50 Mourning Quotes For Healthy Grieving

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published September 23, 2023

Learn something new about the power of language with our mourning quotes.

Loss is never easy, so it’s understandable why mourning can be a painful time for many people.

Are some forms of mourning more beneficial than others?

Find out more with our mourning quotes below.

What is mourning?

Mourning is the expression of an experience involving loss, often as a result of someone’s death.

People mourn for other reasons, such as the end of an era, the closing of an institution, or law changes.

Many mourners engage in the following customs:

Singing
Wearing all black
Prayer and meditation

Does all mourning look the same?

Human culture is diverse as it is beautiful.

Across the planet, people find unique ways to express themselves based on their cultural identities and philosophies.

Mourning differs from culture to culture.

I have been to many funerals in my life, and over time, I have witnessed many different practices and traditions.

People have different ways to express their grief, from silent vigils to celebratory processions.

Mourning and morning

Have you ever wondered why some people say “Grand rising” or “Blessed day” as opposed to “Good morning” when they greet you?

Words shape our reality, and the English language is full of homonyms with different meanings.

Mourning and morning are great examples of two words that have a powerful connection.

When we say mourning, it means we are taking time to reflect on the life of someone we lost.

The words have a similar sound because they have a similar meaning.

The sun (or son) is what brings life to our world.

When the sun goes down at night, it “dies” and comes back up the next day “reborn.”

With each “morning,” we are “mourning” the death of the previous day.

The word morning (mourning) can sometimes have a negative connotation and bring up energies of death and loss.

Alternatively, some say Grand Rising or Blessed Day to great people in the a.m.

To learn more, check out our mourning quotes below.

Short mourning quotes for dealing with loss

We start our journey with these short mourning quotes.

1. “How long is too long to mourn?” — Recognize and Arise

2. “We still have to learn how to deal with grief.” — RST Church

3. “I’m not mourning. I’m suffering.” ― Roland Barthes, Mourning Diary

4. “Until now, I had been able only to grieve, not mourn.” ― Joan Didion

5. “After a week, it’s better. I miss her. I mourn her.” ― Scott Turow, Innocent

6. “Good Madonna, why mournest thou?” ― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

8. “Mourning has its place but also its limits.” ― Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking

9. “Don’t say mourning. It’s too psychoanalytic.” ― Roland Barthes, Mourning Diary

10. “It’s time to live with what we have and mourn what we lost. ” ― Lev Grossman, The Magicians

The top mourning quotes for inner strength

Here are some of the best quotes about how mourning brings out our strengths.

11. “Grief was passive; grief happened. Mourning, the act of dealing with grief, required attention.” ― Joan Didion

12. “Someday, you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert

13. “You can mourn for as long as you need to, no matter whether that’s weeks, months, or even years.” — Recognize and Arise

14. “The type of loss you have suffered can affect how long you need to mourn before you can move on.” — Recognize and Arise

15. “Losing people you love affects you. It doesn’t magically go away, even when you stop officially mourning.” ― Carrie Jones, Captivate

16. “Grief is a cruel kind of education. You learn how ungentle mourning can be, how full of anger.” ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Notes on Grief

17. “Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men.” — Quintus Ennius

18. “We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, ‘Blessed are they that mourn,’ and I accept it.” — C.S. Lewis

19. “Mourning was its own kind of music; the sound of so many hearts, of so many breaths, of so many standing together.” ― Victoria Schwab, Our Dark Duet

20. “If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one or for any other reason, remember that there is no “normal” or ideal amount of time to mourn or grieve.” — Recognize and Arise

Famous mourning quotes from the Bible

Here are some mourning quotes from the Christian tradition.

21. “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning. Thus his father wept for him.” — Genesis 37:34

22. “Provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” ― Isaiah 61:3

23. “Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.” — Genesis 37:34

24. “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” — Ecclesiastes 7:2

25. “And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan, his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.” — 2 Samuel 1:11-12

26. “To everything there is a season: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” — Ecclesiastes 3:4

27. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” ― Matthew 5:4

28. “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” — Revelations 21:4

29. “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” ― Romans 12:15

30. “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” — Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

It is not always easy to find the words to share during a time of loss.

31. “Like love, mourning affects the world and the worldly with unreality, with importunity.” ― Roland Barthes, Mourning Diary

32. “Silence the pianos and with muffled drum, bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.” ― W.H. Auden, Another Time

33. “Mourning is like virginity. You should give it to the one who deserves it most.” ― Elif Shafak, The Bastard of Istanbul

34. “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.” — George S. Patton

35. “Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.” — Lord Byron

36. “I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.” — Psalm 35:14

37. “I don’t mourn the dead. I mourn the living.” — Stephen Evans

38. “Some people, they can’t just move on, you know, mourn and cry and be done with it. Or at least seem to be. ” ― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

39. “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!” — Robert Burns

40. “The effects of loss are acute and unique to each individual. Not everyone mourns in the same way, but everyone mourns.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes

Mourning quotes and sayings for loved ones

We end our list with these quotes about mourning to share with our close friends and relatives.

41. “I mourn the fact that my beautiful country has deteriorated in every way.” — Brigitte Bardot

42. “One and the same thing can at the same time be good, bad, and indifferent, e.g., music is good to the melancholy, bad to those who mourn, and neither good nor bad to the deaf.” — Baruch Spinoza

43. “I don’t mourn the loss of my youth because I believe you should enjoy what you have while you have it.” — Koo Stark

44. “There are many things we do not want about the world. Let us not just mourn them. Let us change them.” — Ferdinand Marcos

45. “Irrespective of age, we mourn for those loved and lost. Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love.” — Russell M. Nelson

46. “As soon as something happens to us in America, everyone begins talking about healing. But before you heal, you have to mourn.” — Edward Hirsch

47. “Not without hope we suffer and we mourn.” — William Wordsworth

48. “Men mourn for what they have lost; women for what they ain’t got.” — Josh Billings

49. “When one by one our ties are torn, and friend from friend is snatched forlorn; when man is left alone to mourn, oh! then how sweet it is to die!” — Anna Letitia Barbauld

50. “Someone who is about to die does not mourn the dead.” — Friedrich Durrenmatt