35 Sad Quotes For When You’re Feeling Low
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It’s not uncommon for people to search for answers in the written word when they’re at their lowest, especially sad quotes that just seem to get you. Most of us try to feel less alone whenever we’re going through emotional turmoil, and seeing others put into words what we’re feeling can almost certainly bring clarity to our own experiences. There’s nothing quite like hearing that song lyric that matches your exact break-up or reading a book that mimics a sad memory from your own life.
Going through times of depression can take a toll on anyone — and prioritizing your mental health with support from professionals and loved ones is always the number one priority. If someone in your life is going through it, there are ways to try to help them out, but ultimately, mental health resources like therapy and speaking with your doctor are the best ways to navigate depression. If you’re still trying to work through a particularly difficult time, we often turn to art created by others — song lyrics, movies, TV shows, poems, etc. to help us feel what we need to feel. Which is why we’ve gathered 35 sad quotes that might resonate with anyone who needs to feel hopefully or even just understood.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the National Alliance on Mental Illness hotline at 800-950-6264.
“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral’s Kiss
“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.” — Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” John Green, Looking For Alaska
“The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come.” — Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
“So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.” — E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly.
“You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices.” — John Green, The Fault In Our Stars
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“If you're my friend I should be able to talk to you but I can't, and if I can't talk to you, well, what is the point of you? Of us?” David Nicholls, One Day
“I felt her absence. It was like waking up one day with no teeth in your mouth. You wouldn't need to run to the mirror to know they were gone.” James Dashner, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
“It hurts to leave a light on for nobody.” Graham Foust, Slow Survivor
“The good times of today are the sad thoughts of tomorrow.” Bob Marley
“Depression is melancholy minus its charms.” Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor
“There is an ocean of silence between us… and I am drowning in it.” Ranata Suzuki
“You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else.” Taylor Swift, “Illicit Affairs.”
“Of all the weapons you fight with, your silence is the most violent.” Paramore, “Pool”
“Breathing is hard. When you cry so much, it makes you realize that breathing is hard.” — David Levithan, Love Is the Higher Law
“They always call depression the blues, but I would have been happy to waken to a periwinkle outlook. Depression to me is urine yellow, washed out, exhausted miles of weak piss.” Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects
“When you’re happy, you enjoy the music but when you’re sad, you understand the lyrics.” ― Frank Ocean
“How's it going to be when you found out there was nothing between you and me.” Third Eye Blind, “How’s It Going To Be?”
“If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn't be filled?” Jodi Picoult, 19 Minutes
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Maya Angelou
“...I hate the way you're always right, I hate it when you lie, I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around, And the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close. Not even a little bit. Not even at all.” 10 Things I Hate About You
“We must understand that sadness is an ocean, and sometimes we drown, while other days we are forced to swim.” R.M. Drake.
“There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well.” Nicholas Sparks, Dear John
Here's to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem. Here's to the hearts that ache, here's to the mess we make.” La La Land
“Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life? Well, I've been afraid of changin’, 'cause I've built my life around you.” Fleetwood Mac, “Landslide.”
“Lately, I've been staring in the mirror, very slowly picking me apart. Trying to tell myself I have no reason with your heart.” Stevie Wonder “Lately.”
“You can love someone so much...But you can never love people as much as you can miss them.” John Green, An Abundance of Katherines
“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.” Maya Angelou
“The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy.” Jim Rohn
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“You know, a heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same.” Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” Lao Tzu
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” Oprah Winfrey
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these — It might have been.” John Greenleaf Whittier
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
