60 Heart Touching Death of a Spouse or Friend Quotes

Losing a spouse or a friend is one of the hardest things that we can go through in life. Coping with our grief and finding a way to move forward is an incredibly difficult journey. But it's one that many of us have to undertake at some point or another, no matter how heart-breaking it feels in the moment.

One of the ways that many people find solace is by taking comfort in the fact that they are not the first person to experience this pain. Quotes from books, music films, TV and popular culture remind us that we aren't alone in our struggles.

Whether you're looking for inspiration, support, or just a way to express your own grief and pain, these quotes can help. They remind us that we are not alone in our suffering and that there is hope beyond the darkness.

1. "Grief is the price we pay for love." – Queen Elizabeth II

2. "No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. The death of a beloved is an amputation." – C.S. Eliot 

3. "To lose a friend is the greatest of all losses." – Cicero

4. "There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart." – Mahatma Gandhi

5. “Though nothing can bring back the hour, Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower, We will grieve not, rather find, Strength in what remains behind.” – William Wordsworth

6. "Grief is a journey that leaves us changed forever. So don't run from it or hide from it. Embrace it and let it change you." – Unknown

7. "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." – Norman Cousins

8. "When you lose someone you love, you gain an angel you know." – Unknown

9. “It's been six months since she died. But Ove still inspects the whole house twice a day to feel the radiators and check that she hasn't sneakily turned up the heating.” – Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove

10. "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come." – Rabindranath Tagore

11. "He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man." – Antoine de Saint– Exupéry

12. "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." – Thomas Campbell

13. "Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great." – Comte de Bussy– Rabutin

14. "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." – From an Irish headstone

15. "What is essential is invisible to the eye." – Antoine de Saint– Exupéry

16. "There are in every person's life certain sorrows, losses, and disappointments which they must never surrender too. These unreturned loves, these bad breaks and wrong turns, these defeats—the heartbreaks that we all incur—make for the richness of our lives." – Unknown

17. “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning." – Thornton Wilder

18. "It is not length of life, but depth of life." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. "He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent nay, more present than the living man." – Antoine de Saint– Exupéry

20. "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone." – Harriet Beecher Stowe

21. "There is no friend like an old friend who has shared our morning days, no greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise." – Oliver Wendell Holmes

22. "A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." – Elbert Hubbard

23. "Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." – Rumi

24. "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." – Eric Hoffer

25. " Perhaps they are not stars, but openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy." – The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

26. "Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it." – Haruki Murakami

27. "I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." – Winston Churchill

28. "Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." – Ernest Hemingway

29. "Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time... It says, 'Now is the time to do what you will.'" – Leo Buscaglia

30. "The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." – Mark Twain

31. "Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." – Alan Sachs

32. "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." – Thomas Campbell

33. "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." – Helen Keller

34. "Grief does not change you, it reveals you." – John Green

35. "The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to." – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

36. "I'll never forget how much I loved you, or the way you make me feel, but I have to move on with my life." – Unknown

37. "I think of you with love every day." – Unknown

38. "In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing." – Robert G. Ingersoll

39. "When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will fall in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun." – William Shakespeare

40. "Death —the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening." – Walter Scott

41. "Death may be the greatest of all human blessings." – Socrates

42. "No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories." – Haruki Murakami

43. "Grief is a normal and natural response to loss. It is originally an unlearned feeling process. It is a reaction to change: life-altering change. Those who grieve are not weak; they are strong people with an overabundance of sensitivity and humanity in facing an overwhelming situation." – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

44. "There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in times of misery." – Aeschylus

45. "When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure." – Unknown

46. "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." – William Shakespeare

47. "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal." – Irish Proverb

48. "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever." – Alfred Lord Tennyson

49. "What is lovely never dies. But passes into other loveliness." – Thomas Bailey Aldrich

50. "Absence is to love as wind is to fire; it fans the flame, it extinguishes the lamp." – Antoine Rivarol

51. "The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart." – Helen Keller

52. "We have known each other from time everlasting. You were a friend before life began. We shall know one another again in heaven." – Unknown

53. "Death departing from men receives the greatest praise for vanquishing them; but when he stays long with them, they blame him because he did not go sooner." – Sophocles

54. "Nobody ever gets over losses like that. It's just part of your broken heart forever. – Cheryl Strayed

55. "Death is not extinguishing the light, it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come." – Rabindranath Tagore

56. "Death is only a horizon. And a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." – Richard Dehmel

57. "It's sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew." – Henry Rollins

58. "The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That's the way life is." – Hugh Laurie

59. "Grief changes shape, but it never ends." – John Green

60. "Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the same persons. Whenever you long for your former lover, think of what you really wanted. The one recollection will suffice you—you want nothing from him but to love again." – Blaise Pascal 

How to use these quotes

It's often difficult to find the words we need to express our sorrow for another person's loss. Luckily, the words you need might already have been spoken. These quotes can be useful for expressing your condolences on a card or on a floral tribute. If you are close with the person, you might be able to send a quote in a text message to offer some comfort in their time of need.

These are also ideal for headstones, funeral programs, or other memorials. Simply select the quote that speaks to you most, and let it help you to express your feelings of sorrow and empathy during this difficult time. With these quotes, you can help to comfort the grieving and offer hope for the future.