30+ Best A Grief Observed Quotes From C. S. Lewis
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‘A Grief Observed’ is a novel written by C. S. Lewis.
The book was published in the year 1961. However, the book was published under the name of N.W. Clerk, as C. S. Lewis did not want to be identified as its author.
The book was republished in 1963 under the name of C.S. Lewis after his death. ‘A Grief Observed’ is a novel about the author’s reflections on bereavement that he experienced after his wife’s death. He has referred to his wife as “H” in the book.
Her first name was Helen, however, she rarely used this name. His wife died on 13 July 1960, and C.S. Lewis lived only for three years after his wife’s passing away.
The novel has also inspired a television show named 'Shadowlands', which was broadcast in 1985, and also a film named 'Shadowlands'. The film was released in the year 1993.
In the book, the author has written about the experiences of a human mind after the loss of a loved one, in this case, his wife. His wife passed away from cancer, just three years into their marriage.
The book talks about Lewis' anger towards God and his prospects of life without his wife. The main aspect and theme of the book is grief. ‘A Grief Observed’ is divided into four parts describing the continuous evolution of Lewis’ mind and his experiences of grief.
If you liked our list of book quotes, then also check out these Narnia quotes for more from C.S. Lewis, and these Christian quotes about faith to find more Christian quotes about death, grief, hope, faith, and more.
C.S. Lewis Quotes About Death From 'A Grief Observed'
Given below is a list of some Christian quotes written by C.S Lewis about death.
1. “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
2. “The death of a beloved is an amputation.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
3. “They say, 'The coward dies many times'; so does the beloved. Didn't the eagle find a fresh liver to tear in Prometheus every time it dined?”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
4. “It is hard to have patience with people who say, ‘There is no death’ or ‘Death doesn’t matter.’ There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
5. “The act of living is different all through. Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
6. “The less I mourn her, the nearer I seem to her.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
7. “How wicked it would be, if we could, to call the dead back! She said not to me but to the chaplain, 'I am at peace with God.' She smiled, but not at me.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
Quotes About God From 'A Grief Observed'
C. S. Lewis was an atheist in his twenties. However, he turned to theism in 1930, and later in 1931, he converted to Christianity. Some sayings about the Almighty God from ‘A Grief Observed’ by C S Lewis are given below.
8. “My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
9. “What do people mean when they say, ‘I am not afraid of God because I know He is good’? Have they never even been to a dentist?”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
10. “To see, in some measure, like God. His love and His knowledge are not distinct from one another, nor from Him. We could almost say He sees because He loves, and therefore loves although He sees.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
11. “God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
12. “Sometimes it is hard not to say 'God forgive God.' Sometimes, it is hard to say so much. But if our faith is true, He didn't. He crucified Him.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
13. "In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down."
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
Quotes About Bereavement From 'A Grief Observed'
Some bereavement quotes from ‘A Grief Observed’ by C. S Lewis are given below.
14. “Bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
15. “There was no sudden, striking, and emotional transition. Like the warming of a room or the coming of daylight. When you first notice them, they have already been going on for some time.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
16. “And there’s also ‘To him that hath shall be given.’ After all, you must have a capacity to receive, or even omnipotence can’t give. Perhaps your own passion temporarily destroys the capacity.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
17. “Did you ever know, dear, how much you took away with you when you left? You have stripped me even of my past, even of the things we never shared.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
Christian Quotes About Grief From 'A Grief Observed'
A list of sayings from ‘A Grief Observed’ about grief is given below.
18. “Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
19. “Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
20. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
21. “Grief... gives life a permanently provisional feeling. It doesn't seem worth starting anything. I can't settle down... Up till this, I always had too little time. Now there is nothing but time.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
22. “People talk as if grief were just a feeling - as if it weren't the continually renewed shock of setting out again and again on familiar roads and being brought up short by the grim frontier post that now blocks them.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
23. “And grief, still feels like fear. Perhaps, more importantly, like suspense. Or like waiting; just hanging about waiting for something to happen.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
24. “For in grief nothing stays put. One keeps emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
The Best C. S. Lewis Quotes From 'A Grief Observed'
The best and most popular sayings by C. S. Lewis from his book ‘A Grief Observed’ are listed below.
25. “We were promised sufferings... We were even told, ‘Blessed are they that mourn,’ and I accept it. I’ve got nothing that I hadn’t bargained for. Of course, it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
26. “I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
27. “Something quite unexpected has happened. It came this morning early. For various reasons, not in themselves at all mysterious, my heart was lighter than it had been for many weeks.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
28. “Thus up from the garden to the Gardener, from the sword to the Smith. To the life-giving Life and the Beauty that makes beautiful.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
29. “And now that I come to think of it, there's no practical problem before me at all. I know the two great commandments, and I'd better get on with them.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
30. “Is it rational to believe in a bad God? Anyway, in a God so bad as all that?”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
31. “Heaven will solve our problems, but not, I think, by showing us subtle reconciliations between all our apparently contradictory notions. The notions will all be knocked from under our feet. We shall see that there never was any problem.”
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
32. “Praise is the mode of love which always has some element of joy in it."
- C. S. Lewis, ‘A Grief Observed’.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 30+ 'A Grief Observed' quotes from C. S. Lewis, then why not take a look at these [Shakespeare quotes about death] or [faith in God quotes] for more inspiring and thought-provoking book quotes?
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Bachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights
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With a wealth of international experience spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, Anusuya brings a unique perspective to her work as a Content Assistant and Content Updating Coordinator. She holds a law degree from India and has practiced law in India and Kuwait. Anusuya is a fan of rap music and enjoys a good cup of coffee in her free time. Currently, she is working on her novel, "Mr. Ivory Merchant".
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