30 Beautiful Quotes about Sadness and Emotional Suffering

A few beautiful words read at the right time can leave you with a lifelong lesson. In this article, we've gathered the best quotes about sadness and suffering to reflect upon.
30 Beautiful Quotes about Sadness and Emotional Suffering

Last update: 26 May, 2022

Sadness is part of our catalog of emotions. It’s as valid a feeling as joy or anger, so it makes no sense to be ashamed of it or try to repress it. Although moderation should go along with it, of course, not channeling your emotions can be counterproductive. Today, we’ve gathered 30 quotes about sadness and emotional suffering to accompany your process.

People find relief from their emotions differently. As a basic emotion, sadness is one of the most powerful feelings we can experience. Controlling is not easy and often involves letting it manifest itself as you appease it with your positive emotions.

That said, we’ll leave you with some quotes about sadness and suffering that will make you reflect on this powerful emotion.

Best phrases of sadness and emotional suffering

According to researchers, sadness and grief have several characteristics in common. In fact, the triggers in your body in response to a situation that makes you sad are similar to those that occur when you experience pain.

Some experts say that sadness and suffering in the right measure and channeled in the right way can positively affect your life. Of course, this is something that you don’t often realize in the middle of the whirlwind, but after you manage to get out of it. We hope our quotes on sadness and suffering will give you food for thought.

1. Quotes about sadness: “Sadness is nothing more than a wall between two gardens” (Khalil Gibran)

It’s one that will sometimes be as high as you want it to be. The choice to stay in one garden or the other depends on your commitment to yourself.

2. “We must understand that sadness is an ocean, and some days we drown, while on other days we’re forced to swim” (R. M. Drake)

In any case, it’s an ocean that’s always there. It’s the case for everyone, so don’t think this is an exclusive emotion you have to deal with. Understanding this is one of the best lessons of sadness and suffering.

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3. “Pain never really goes away; you just rise and get used to it, making yourself stronger” (Ritu Ghatourey)

After all, you can’t change what has made you sad. You can’t change the past, but you can change the attitude you choose to face the future.

4. “If you can sit with your pain, listen to your pain, and respect your pain, you can eventually get over your pain” (Bryant McGill)

If you turn your back on it, you’ll never get over it. Sadness is to be fought head-on, sometimes even with your chest held high.

5. “For a broken-hearted person, memories are the lifeblood of their misery” (Munia Khan)

In fact, it’s the memories that make you sad. Or, rather, it’s your uncontrolled apprehension towards them that cause this reaction.

6. “What makes us cry will lead us to grace. Our pain is never wasted” (Bob Goff)

As we noted at the beginning of the phrases on suffering and sadness, this is not something that may seem obvious to you at the beginning, but it does at the end. As long as you learn from it, your suffering will not be in vain.

7. “Sometimes it takes sadness to know happiness, noise to appreciate silence, and absence to value presence” (Unknown)

How would you learn to value happy moments if you didn’t have to experience sad situations first?

8. “Every man has his secret sorrows which the world does not know, and we often call a man cold when he is only sad” (Henry Longfellow)

Las frases de tristeza y sufrimiento hablan sobre empatía
Developing empathy is fundamental to advance in social relationships. Understanding the sadness of others is part of it.

After all, sometimes camouflaging sadness is very easy. A smile is not always synonymous with happiness. Sometimes it’s just a mask.

9. “It’s sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew” (Henry Rollins)

This is one of the most vividly sad love quotes in our selection.

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10. “Your sadness is a gift. Don’t reject it. Don’t rush it. Live it fully and use it as fuel to change and grow” (Máxime Lagacé)

In its right measure, of course! When we say don’t repress it, we don’t mean let the feeling control you. Crying is good, but it’s even better to know when to stop.

11. “There are moments when I wish I could turn back the clock and take away all the sadness, but I have the feeling that if I did that the joy would disappear, too” (Nicholas Sparks)

The lessons that those moments have taught you would disappear, too. You’re never the same after you lift your head and come out of the storm.

12. Quotes about sadness: “Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect” (Margaret Mitchell)

This is something that the sooner you understand, the sooner you’ll be spared situations that will lead you to be unnecessarily sad.

13. “So it’s true when all is said and done, pain is the price we pay for love” (E. A. Bucchianeri)

after all, loving tacitly implies living with heartbreak in the future.

14. “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words unsaid and deeds undone” (Harriet Beecher)

This is another teaching from the phrases of sadness and suffering that you should apply in your life to avoid future regrets.

15. “Pain is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more out of you” (Veronica Roth)

Plus, it leaves an imprint on you that can never be erased.

16. “You know, the heart may break, but it keeps beating anyway” (Fannie Flagg)

Because life goes on, which tells you that you will have to get over it sooner or later.

17. “Crying is all right in its way as long as it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do” (C. S. Lewis)

In the latter lies the key: to decide what to do. It’s up to you to choose how to direct your life and what direction you want it to take.

18. “Feeling lost, mad and desperate belongs as much to a good life as to optimism, certainty, and reason” (Alain de Botton)

Sadness is a completely valid feeling. She who is sad is not inferior to she who is happy.

19. Quotes about sadness: “You don’t need water to feel like you’re drowning, do you?” (Jodi Picoult)

This is something that we’re sure many readers will be able to agree with.

20. “I always like to walk in the rain, so no one can see me cry” (Charles Chaplin)

These are a few words that add spice to any unfortunate event.

21. “There is no greater pain than to remember the moment when we were happy with misery” (Dante)

As we’ve already noted in other phrases of sadness and suffering, memories are the fertilizer that makes your sadness grow.

22. “Tears are words that the mouth cannot speak and the heart cannot bear” (Joshua Wisenbaker)

They’re a language we use when our emotions overflow our words.

23. “One thing you can’t hide is when you’re crippled inside” (John Lennon)

You can mask it and make it go unnoticed in front of some, but if you haven’t made peace with your pain, sooner or later, it will manifest itself.

24. “The good life is not immune to sadness, but our suffering contributes to our development” (Alain de Button)

Accept that your life has sad and happy moments. The contrast between the two makes you want to go on living.

25. Quotes about sadness: “Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with a true heart to make beauty out of the things that make us cry” (Clive Barker)

Some take pain as a test to prove to themselves that they can overcome any obstacle and flourish in the face of all odds.

26. “Every life has a measure of pain, and sometimes that’s what wakes us up” (Steven Tyler)

Las frases de tristeza y sufrimiento también tocan el tema de la motivación
The pain of negative experiences is part of the engine that can help us become better people in the future.

It does this in such a timeless way that it makes you stay awake forever.

27. “Boredom, anger, sadness, and fear are not yours; they are not personal. They are conditions of the human mind. They come and go. Nothing that comes and goes is you” (Eckhart Tolle)

These are emotions we all experience, so avoid thinking that your life is the only one that has to deal with unpleasant moments. Every face hides its own story of frustration, sadness, and suffering. Don’t make them a part of your identity. 

28. “At the heart of every frustration is a basic structure: the collision of a desire with an unshakable reality” (Alain de Botton)

Many pangs of sadness are explained in this way: they’re an illusion that has had a rendezvous with reality.

29. Quotes about sadness: “People cry not because they’re weak, but because they’ve been strong for too long” (Johnny Depp)

Remember this when you think crying is a sign of weakness.

30. “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It isn’t. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone” (Robin Williams)

We end our list of sadness and suffering phrases with this reflection on your inner circle. Undoubtedly, you can manage these emotions better when you’re with the right people.

May these last words serve as a guide so that you decide to seek help from friends and family when you feel these emotions overwhelm you. A shoulder to cry on, the warmth of a hug, and honest advice can make a huge difference.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • Bonanno, G. A., Goorin, L., & Coifman, K. G. Sadness and grief. 2008.
  • Forgas, J. P. Can sadness be good for you?. Australian Psychologist. 2017; 52(1): 3-13.

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.