Finding inspiration while grieving the death of a loved one can seem impossible.
But here’s an incredible truth: The fact that your loved one’s loss has hit you so hard is proof that there is something to learn from their life.
Your loved one’s life was not in vain. There’s an inspiration to be found—even in their death—as you celebrate their life, honor their memory, and pay tribute to the impact they had on those around them.
To that end, we’ve curated and commented on some of the most meaningful quotes about death of a loved one that we’ve found. We hope these words contribute to your journey.
Quotes About the Death of a Loved One
Here are some of the best short inspirational quotes after losing a loved one.
1. “Grief and love are conjoined, you don’t get one without the other.”- Jandy Nelson
Grief and love are connected. When you love and lose someone, you will experience distress. There is no way around it.
There is also beauty in celebrating their life with others. Enjoy the wonderful memories you have. Share both the love and the grief with friends and family.
2. “All things grow with time, except grief.” – Hebrew Proverb
Many mourners wonder how long the grief will last. The reality is that as time goes by, grief subsides little by little.
After a while, the tears don’t fall as often. Though now it may seem impossible, you will start to smile at the memories. Time softens the edges of your grief.
3. “Only a moment you stayed, but what an imprint your footprints have left on our hearts.” – Dorothy Ferguson
This quote refers to the loss of a baby that only lives for a few hours or days, but it also applies to a young child.
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No matter how much time you were blessed with your young one, it never feels like enough. It was only a moment.
We only had them for such a short time, but the love we feel for them is engraved into our very soul. The shortened life of a child changes anyone that experiences this devastating loss.
4. “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Having experienced love in your life is worth the pain of losing it, compared to never having experienced love in the first place.
That’s the argument the great poet Tennyson makes in this quote. The love we share is worth any pain we may go through in the loss of it. Don’t you agree?
5. “If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them.” – James O’Barr
If the people we love die, the way to have them live on is to continue loving them. Buildings can burn, things break and wear our, people will die. But love is forever.
Death does not mean an ending to the love we feel for that person. As we live on in that love, we keep their memory alive.
6. “Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship.” – Robert Woodruff Anderson
Just because someone we love dies, it doesn’t mean they’re gone. We still have all the memories of them, and we still love them.
Our love lives on.
7. “Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Even though things look bleak, keep your hopes up in dark times. Let your memories help you through.
The dark times will pass. Just like a bird singing in the rain, your sun will shine again.
8. “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach
Even after death, life goes on. What some people consider the end is really only the beginning. For a Christian, death means a brand new, glorious life.
For those of us that are left behind, life changes. It goes on, even without our beloved being with us on earth.
9. “All deaths are sudden, no matter how gradual the dying may be.” – Michael McDowell
We are NEVER ready for our loved ones to die. Maybe they were diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. You may have watched them suffer and even realize they are in a better place, where there is no more suffering. Or maybe it was sudden, accidental, or unexpected.
No matter what the circumstances, any death it is still too soon. We will always feel that they died too quickly. We wish the person was still with us, perhaps even experiencing the “denial” and “bargaining” stages of grief.
These feelings are a completely normal part of the grieving process. Death is always shocking.
10. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” – Jesus, in John 11:25-26
Jesus tells us that our bodies will die, but we will live forever with Him if we believe in Him. Our spirit lives on to be joined with our resurrected body.
This is a beautiful promise that we can believe in and look forward to.
Jesus asked, “Do you believe this?”
Find more meaningful and inspirational Scripture quotes here.
11. “The only way to get over a death is by seeing it as a life completed, instead of a life interrupted.” – Anonymous
It’s hard to watch a loved one die. This saying is telling us that we need to realize that they lived out their purpose.
When we die, our life has been completed. No one dies before their time.
Related: The 12 Stages of the Grieving Process (Wait… There’s More Than 5??!)
12. “Come back. Even as a shadow, even as a dream.” – Euripides
When we miss our loved one, we just want to see them again.
In the classic Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff said, “Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!”
That is true love – and true heartache.
13. “Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life.” – Anne Roiphe
Anne Roiphe is right. First, you have to cope with the loss. And second, you have moved on to living your life.
The second part of this equation often comes with the feeling of guilt. Sometimes you experience guilt because you have survived through something you never thought you could live through.
Now that you’ve gotten through the death comes the next most challenging part – learning to live again. Perhaps even finding love again.
Related: Complicated Grief: 10 Things to Know When Grief Goes Awry
14. “The death of a beloved is an amputation.” – C.S. Lewis
When someone we love passes, it’s like we have lost a part of ourselves.
Living without your child, spouse, parents, or other close loved ones is, in a very real way, much like missing part of our body.
Related: What Happens When You Die?
15. “The darker the night, the brighter the stars; the deeper the grief, the closer is God!” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
At this time of fear and uncertainty in your life, there must be some comfort we can find in what has happened. There must be some good deep down inside what we cannot, at this moment, comprehend.
That’s the point at which faith becomes so meaningful. We don’t understand, but trust that God is accomplishing his good purposes even in the darkest moments.
16. “Death – the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.” – Sir Walter Scott
We don’t sleep when we are dead. Death is when we really begin to live. We cross that veil between the two worlds—the world we see and the one that is still a mystery to us.
Eventually, we will all cross over to that final awakening.
17. “He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend.” – Sir Henry Taylor
We have to go through a period of mourning and grief. Death tears up something deep inside us; we need to heal after the loss of a loved one. This takes work and time.
You can’t rush it, you just have to push through it – even on those days when you “just can’t.“
18. “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” – Thomas Campbell
The hearts we leave behind are the family, friends, and people who knew us. If these people remember us, we have not died or have been forgotten.
We live on through memories.
19. “Lucky is the spouse who dies first, who never has to know what survivors endure.” – Sue Grafton
A survivor has to endure so much when you lose a spouse. Here is a “tip of the iceberg” list:
- Survivor’s guilt
- Loneliness
- Grief
- Navigating all of the legalities
- Planning a funeral/burial
- Learning to live again
Surviving a death is frightening. How will you get through it all? You might feel like you won’t be able to work through it. Keep pushing through. You can and will survive.
20. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” – Psalm 34:18
It is so comforting to know that the Father is beside us, especially when we are grieving. Nothing is more challenging than losing someone we love, and this scripture reminds us of God’s love for us. He is never far away.
More Inspiration: 7 Best Memorial Ideas for Your Loved One
