50 Gone But Not Forgotten Quotes To Remember Those We Lost

We have an unparalleled selection of gone but not forgotten quotes if you are looking for the right words to honor someone dear to you. 

What is the meaning of gone but not forgotten?

The phrase gone but not forgotten applies to people who have died but are still remembered by the living. 

Across the globe, people mourn differently. 

However, what all cultures have in common is the shared theme of remembering those who have passed away. 

Funeral services and how a community treats its dead will vary depending on the culture. 

In the United States, various cultures mourn differently.

According to the US Department of Labor and Statistics, the funeral industry is worth over 4.5 billion dollars.

Here are some interesting facts about bereavement: 

• The average cost of a funeral is $8,000. 
• About 37% of people chose to be buried. 
• About 58% of people choose to have their remains cremated. 

Dealing with grief

Grief is one of the most powerful human emotions. 

Below are the five stages of grief experts have identified that most people experience:

• Denial: This can’t be happening.
• Anger: Why did this happen? Who is to blame?
• Bargaining: Make this not happen, and I will…
• Depression: I can’t bear this; I’m too sad to do anything.
• Acceptance: I acknowledge that this has happened, and I cannot change it.

What do you say to honor the dead?

It is not easy to console anyone who has lost a loved one. 

Many people struggle to find the words to honor the dead, and some find it challenging to communicate with the bereaved. 

Check out our remarkable, gone but not forgotten quotes below for great content and ideas for honoring those we lost. 

Short gone but not forgotten quotes

These quotes are short, sweet, and powerful. 

1. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” — C.S. Lewis

2. “When words are most empty, tears are most apt.” — Max Lucado

3. “I want to set an example that will never be forgotten.” — Terry Fox

4. “When a child dies, you bury the child in your heart.” — Korean Proverb

5. “Well, everyone can master a grief, but he that has it.” — William Shakespeare

6. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” — Matthew 5:4

7. “When we have joy, we crave to share; We remember them.” — Sylvan Kamens 

8. “Your absence is inconspicuous; Nobody can tell what I lack.” — Sylvia Plath, Parliament Hill Fields

9. “Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?” — Terry Pratchett

10. “One more day, one more time. One more sunset, maybe I’d be satisfied.” — Diamond Rio, One More Day 

Gone but not forgotten quotes for when you miss them

Losing a loved one is never easy, but they live on through our memories. 

11. “You gave me a forever within the numbered days.” — John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

12. “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” — Havelock Ellis

13. “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” — Clarence Budington Kelland

14. “Wherever a beautiful soul has been, there is a trail of beautiful memories.” — Ronald Reagan

15. “If he’s forgotten me, I’ll make him remember me. I’ll make him want me again.” — Margaret Mitchell

16. “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” — Kahlil Gibran

17. “At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer, we remember them.” — Sylvan Kamens 

18. “The comfort of having a friend may be taken away but not that of having had one.” — Seneca

19. “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’” — Alfred Tennyson

20. “But then again, I know what it would do. Leave me wishing still for one more day with you.” — Diamond Rio, One More Day

Gone but not forgotten quotes to always remember them

May each of us create wonderful, lasting memories.  

21. “Everyone is no-one-to-be.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

22. “What you remember saves you.” — W. S. Merwin

23. “I have to live if I want to be remembered.” — Suzanne Young

24. “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” — Thomas Campbell

25. “A second is a step taken by the living towards death.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

26. “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.” — Dr. Seuss

27. “No one is too old to live another day or too young to die today.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

28. “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.” — J.M. Barrie

29. “As is a tale, so is a life: Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” — Seneca

30. “It is a rare blessing to not want to live a second longer than you will live.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Gone but not forgotten quotes to live by

We are redeemed by how others remember us. 

31. “You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.” — Jane Austen

32. “Fill this void with happiness that is sustainable, not transitory; that illuminates your life and that of others, that is life-giving and so natural.” — Sanchita Pandey

33. “Life is spontaneous, and it is unpredictable; it is magical. I think that we have struggled so hard with the tangible that we have forgotten the intangible.” — Diane Frolov

34. “You think winter will never end, and then, when you don’t expect it when you have almost forgotten it, warmth comes and different light.” — Wendell Berry

35. “Show me. Show me what I’ve forgotten. Show me what was so important that it tore my heart in two?!” — Matsuri Hino

36. “It takes strength to make your way through grief, to grab hold of life and let it pull you forward.” — Patti Davis

37. “The healing power of even the most microscopic exchange with someone who knows in a flash precisely what you’re talking about because she experienced that thing too cannot be overestimated.” — Cheryl Strayed

38. “What separates us from animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.” — David Levithan

39. “Someday soon, we all will be together, if the fates allow. Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow.” — Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

40. “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it Is not the same river, and he is not the same man.” — Heraclites

Memorable gone but not forgotten quotes

Hold tight to what is dear to you and honor the love you have. 

41. “What we once have enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us.” — Helen Keller

42. “Just as there can be a hole in these narratives, a memoir can be as much about what’s forgotten as what’s remembered.” — Jane Alison

43. “The goddess has never been lost. It is just that some of us have forgotten how to find her.” — Patricia Monaghan

44. “She was no longer wrestling with the grief, but could sit down with It as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts.” — George Eliot

45. “The holiest of holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart: The secret anniversaries of the heart.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

46. “Ain’t no shame in holding on to grief, as long as you make room for other things too.” — David Simon, The Wire

47. “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.” — Stuart Scott

48. “Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay

49. “Look closely, and you will see almost everyone carrying bags of cement on their shoulders. That’s why it takes courage to get out of bed in the morning and climb into the day.” — Edward Hirsch

50. “Losing my mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul. But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today. I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here.” — Mariska Hargitay 

Dispelling myths about grief 

There are many myths about the grieving process. 

Even though we mourn differently, there are still common themes within the mourning process that impact people in powerful ways. 

One myth is that the pain of the loss will go away if you ignore it. 

Trying to ignore pain will only result in pain resurfacing in the future. 

We must stand in our feelings and allow our emotions to be felt fully. 

Another myth is that a person must be “strong” in the face of a loss. It is usual for all human beings to feel sad, lonely, or even frightened after a loss. 

These are normal reactions, and we are not protecting anybody by pretending to be brave while ignoring our emotions. 

Other people are told they are not sad about the loss if they do not cry. 

Everyone responds to lose differently. 

Some people cry, and others do not. 

Those who do not cry may feel the pain as deeply as everyone else, but they may express their pain differently. 

What’s your biggest takeaway from these gone but not forgotten quotes?

Let us know in the comment section below.