Grief Quotes for a Sympathy Card, Plus Bible Verses About Grief

Grief quotes can help when your own words feel too small. A line from a poem, a book or a letter, written at the top of a sympathy card, shows the family that you have been thinking carefully about them and about the person they lost.

Below are short grief quotes, quotes about love and loss, quotes for the loss of a mother or father, Bible verses about grief, and simple lines of your own to write after the quote. Each quote comes from a published poem, book, sermon or letter, and the author is listed next to it so you can credit them in the card.

Article contents

• How to Use a Grief Quote in a Sympathy Card
• Short Grief Quotes
• Quotes About Grief and Love
• Comforting Quotes About Losing a Loved One
• Loss of Mother and Loss of Father Quotes
• Bible Verses About Grief
• Short Sympathy Lines to Write After a Quote
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Use a Grief Quote in a Sympathy Card

A quote works best as the opening of your message, followed by a few words of your own. These steps keep it simple.

1. Choose one quote that fits the family. Think about what they believe and how they talk about the person who died. A family of faith may welcome a Bible verse, while others may prefer a line from a poem.
2. Write the quote at the top of the inside panel. Put the author's name on the line below it. You do not need to include the title of the book or poem.
3. Add a personal line. Say that you are sorry, use the name of the person who died, or share a short memory of them.
4. Offer help only if you mean it. A specific offer, such as bringing dinner on Thursday, is easier to accept than a general one.
5. Sign with a warm closing. "With sympathy," "Thinking of you" and "With love" all work well.

Here is an example: "'What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness.' (Thomas Bailey Aldrich) Dear Ellen, I am so sorry about your mother. I think of her every spring when the tulips she planted along the fence come up. I will call next week to see how you are doing. With love, Karen"

Short Grief Quotes

These short grief quotes are one or two lines long, so they fit above a personal note in almost any card. They also work well in a group card, where space is limited.

• "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H.)
• "To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die." (Thomas Campbell, Hallowed Ground)
• "Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them." (George Eliot, Adam Bede)
• "What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness." (Thomas Bailey Aldrich)
• "Whatever we were to each other, that we are still." (Henry Scott Holland)
• "Perfect relief is not possible, except with time." (Abraham Lincoln)
• "Everyone can master a grief but he that has it." (William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing)
• "Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; behind the clouds is the sun still shining." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Rainy Day)

Quotes About Grief and Love

Grief and love are closely tied, and many writers have said so in a way that still rings true. These quotes about grief and love suit a card for someone who has lost a husband or wife, a parent or a close friend. The longer ones read well on their own, with a short personal line below.

• "Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break." (William Shakespeare, Macbeth)
• "I sometimes hold it half a sin to put in words the grief I feel; for words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the Soul within." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H.)
• "But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, and the sound of a voice that is still!" (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Break, Break, Break)
• "They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill, what never dies." (William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude)
• "The love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the soul." (Washington Irving, The Sketch Book)
• "The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced." (Washington Irving, The Sketch Book)
• "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." (Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet)
• "Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts." (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations)
• "The sweeping up the heart, and putting love away we shall not want to use again until eternity." (Emily Dickinson)
• "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, Ode: Intimations of Immortality)

Comforting Quotes About Losing a Loved One

These comforting quotes speak of the person as still close by or at peace. They suit a family that finds comfort in faith or in the hope of meeting again. If you are not sure how the family feels, one of the quotes about grief and love above is a gentler choice.

• "Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room." (Henry Scott Holland)
• "I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner." (Henry Scott Holland)
• "Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still." (William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude)
• "I cannot say, and I will not say that he is dead. He is just away!" (James Whitcomb Riley, Away)
• "I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crost the bar." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Crossing the Bar)
• "Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal." (Thomas Moore, Come, Ye Disconsolate)
• "There is no Death! What seems so is transition." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Resignation)

Loss of Mother and Loss of Father Quotes

Losing a parent changes a person's whole world, at any age. These quotes about a mother's love and a father's character work well when you add a line about their mom or dad by name. For more wording, see our sympathy messages for the loss of a father.

• "There is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to a son, that transcends all other affections of the heart." (Washington Irving, The Sketch Book)
• "He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." (William Shakespeare, Hamlet)
• "In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all." (Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to a young woman whose father had died)
• "You are sure to be happy again." (Abraham Lincoln, from the same letter)

The Irving quote fits a card to a son who has lost his mother, and the line from Hamlet, which Hamlet speaks about his own father, fits a card to anyone who has lost a dad. Lincoln wrote both of his lines to Fanny McCullough after her father was killed in the Civil War. The second one is best saved for a card sent a few weeks or months after the funeral.

Bible Verses About Grief

If you know the family shares your faith, a Bible verse can bring real comfort. These verses are from the New International Version (NIV). For more faith-based wording, see our Christian guide to sympathy sayings.

• "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)
• "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18)
• "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." (Psalm 147:3)
• "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)
• "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:26)
• "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4)
• "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
• "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
• "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)
• "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
• "He 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." (Revelation 21:4)

Psalm 34:18 and Matthew 5:4 are short enough for any card. The longer passages, such as 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, fit best when the verse is the main part of your message and you add only a line or two below it.

Short Sympathy Lines to Write After a Quote

After the quote, add one or two lines in your own words and then sign your name. Choose the one that sounds most like you, and change the details to fit the person who died.

• I am so sorry for your loss. I am thinking of you and your family.
• I will always remember how kind he was to me when I was new in town.
• Your dad's stories made every holiday better. I will miss hearing them.
• She talked about you with so much pride. I hope you know how much she loved you.
• I do not know what to say, but I wanted you to know that I care.
• I am grateful I got to know her. She made our street a warmer place to live.
• I keep thinking about the summer we all spent at the lake with him.
• Your grandmother was one of the most generous people I have ever known.
• Please take all the time you need. I am here whenever you want to talk.
• I will drop off dinner on Tuesday. Please do not feel you need to write back.
• I will call next week to check in, and I would love to hear your favorite stories about her.
• Missing him with you today, and sending all my love.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to put a quote in a sympathy card?

Yes. A quote can say what is hard to put into your own words, and many families keep cards with a meaningful line in them. Add at least one personal sentence after it so the card sounds like you.

Where do I write a quote in a sympathy card?

Write it at the top of the inside panel, with the author's name on the next line. Your own message goes below it, followed by your closing and signature.

Do I need to include the author's name?

It is good practice to credit the author, and a short name such as "Tennyson" or "Washington Irving" is enough. For a Bible verse, write the reference, such as Psalm 34:18, below the verse.

Should I use a Bible verse or a quote?

Use a Bible verse if you know the family shares your faith. If you are not sure, a quote about grief and love from a poem or book is a safe and kind choice.

What is a good short grief quote for a sympathy card?

"What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness" by Thomas Bailey Aldrich and "To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die" by Thomas Campbell are both short and gentle. Either one fits easily above a personal note.

For more help with wording, see our condolence messages for a sympathy card, our short sympathy messages and our sympathy messages for the loss of a mother. If the family is religious, our Christian sympathy sayings have more verses and blessings.

Our Bible Verse Sympathy Cards carry a verse of comfort on the front and are blank inside, so there is room for a quote and your own note. You can also browse all of our sympathy cards. Every set comes with envelopes and is printed on 100% recycled paper.