--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing?…" description: "\"“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d7/alan-bradley-1571_grief_was-sorrow-in-the-end-a-private-thing-a_2820656.jpg" --- # Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed… ![“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders?” quote by Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d7/alan-bradley-1571_grief_was-sorrow-in-the-end-a-private-thing-a_2820656.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d7/alan-bradley-1571_grief_was-sorrow-in-the-end-a-private-thing-a_2820656.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d7/alan-bradley-1571_grief_was-sorrow-in-the-end-a-private-thing-a_2820656.jpg) > ““Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders?”” [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grief can feel isolated and burdensome, as if only one person can bear it. **In simple terms:** Grief feels like a heavy, personal burden. Key Takeaway Acknowledge shared sorrow. Themes grief isolation burden Mood somber reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family loss - mental health counseling - support groups Key Concepts existentialism empathy Questions to Reflect On - How can we share grief responsibly? - What supports lessen solitary sorrow? A Different Perspective Pain may be communal, not solely personal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Like Bucket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-bucket-3519199/) [Private Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-thing-973058/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrow End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-end-3045153/) [Thing Closed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-closed-3587926/) ## Related quotes > [It felt like I was a bucket full of holes. Things kept going in but just as quickly, they'd drain out. So I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-hosoi/it-felt-like-i-was-a-bucket-full-of-holes-things-kept-going-in-but/) [Christian Hosoi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-hosoi/) > [Life is like a bucket filled with water ,when it over flows it hurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-like-a-bucket-filled-with-water-when-it-over-flows-it-hurts/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When I went to the sage Aravana adigal I was heartbroken and distraught. The words he gave me then were these: "Know these —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lakshmi-holmstrom/when-i-went-to-the-sage-aravana-adigal-i-was-heartbroken-and/) [Lakshmi Holmstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lakshmi-holmstrom/) > [No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/no-truth-can-cure-the-sorrow-we-feel-from-losing-a-loved-one-no-truth/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Your eyes are like the ocean: filled with worries and untold stories and behind your smile is pain. If you let me in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reina/your-eyes-are-like-the-ocean-filled-with-worries-and-untold-stories/) [Reina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reina/) > [Once to die is better than length of days in sorrow without end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/once-to-die-is-better-than-length-of-days-in-sorrow-without-end/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Art is a private thing, the artist makes it for himself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/art-is-a-private-thing-the-artist-makes-it-for-himself/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Sexuality is a very private thing, 'Provocateur' will make it public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-shields/sexuality-is-a-very-private-thing-provocateur-will-make-it-public/) [Tyler Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-shields/) > [Football really felt like a private thing when I was in my teens because it wasn't on television, for a start, apart from 'Match…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/football-really-felt-like-a-private-thing-when-i-was-in-my-teens/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [“No one was dancing, least of all us, because I don't dance in public. My body's a private thing; it doesn't belong to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/no-one-was-dancing-least-of-all-us-because-i-don-t-dance-in-public-my/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [“Melancholy is a private thing. It's not something you just show to everybody.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/melancholy-is-a-private-thing-it-s-not-something-you-just-show-to/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [And a pang is ultimately private. It's not a thing that gets broadcast to the world; it's a kind of internal alarm that sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/and-a-pang-is-ultimately-private-it-s-not-a-thing-that-gets-broadcast/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [It's such a private thing. It's a huge decision. It's not like you wake up one day and say, 'Oh, I'm going to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candis-cayne/it-s-such-a-private-thing-it-s-a-huge-decision-it-s-not-like-you-wake/) [Candis Cayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candis-cayne/) > [I believe love - and its feminine, though not necessarily female, counterpart, romance, is a private thing. It's something I'm not willing to share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/i-believe-love-and-its-feminine-though-not-necessarily-female/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [It's such a private thing - 'my process' - I can just say that the work that I do is like therapy between me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-dunst/it-s-such-a-private-thing-my-process-i-can-just-say-that-the-work/) [Kirsten Dunst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-dunst/) ## More by Alan Bradley > [“…it is a well-known fact that more than two men shut up together in an enclosed space for more than an hour constitute a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-more-than-two-men-shut-up-together-in-an/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“You see, Flavia, silence is sometimes the most costly of commodities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/you-see-flavia-silence-is-sometimes-the-most-costly-of-commodities/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“If there is a thing I truly despise, it is being addressed as "dearie." When I write my magnum opus, A Treatise Upon All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/if-there-is-a-thing-i-truly-despise-it-is-being-addressed-as-dearie/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“The sweater didn't fit me, of course. Even with the sleeves rolled up I looked like a baggy monkey picking bananas. But to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/the-sweater-didn-t-fit-me-of-course-even-with-the-sleeves-rolled-up-i/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“If there is anything more delicious than a sausage roasted over an open Bunsen burner, I can't image what it might be--Porcelain and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/if-there-is-anything-more-delicious-than-a-sausage-roasted-over-an/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“No point in wasting time with false vanity when you possess the real thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/no-point-in-wasting-time-with-false-vanity-when-you-possess-the-real/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Die, witch," I managed, making a cross of my forefingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/die-witch-i-managed-making-a-cross-of-my-forefingers/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“There was no way out; not, at least, in this direction. I was like a hamster that had climbed to the top of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/there-was-no-way-out-not-at-least-in-this-direction-i-was-like-a/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [I am often thought of as being remarkably bright, and yet my brains, more often than not, are busily devising new and interesting ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/i-am-often-thought-of-as-being-remarkably-bright-and-yet-my-brains/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“To my mind, if Nature had wanted us to have bright red fingertips, She would have caused us to be born with our blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/to-my-mind-if-nature-had-wanted-us-to-have-bright-red-fingertips-she/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Had I been too cruel to that horror, Miss Mountjoy? Too vindictive? Wasn't she, after all, just a harmless and lonely old spinster? Would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/had-i-been-too-cruel-to-that-horror-miss-mountjoy-too-vindictive-wasn/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“This was an interesting thought; it had never occurred to me that one's name could be a compass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/this-was-an-interesting-thought-it-had-never-occurred-to-me-that-one/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“While you've been gadding about the countryside, we've held a meeting, and we've all of us decided that you must go.' In short, we've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/while-you-ve-been-gadding-about-the-countryside-we-ve-held-a-meeting/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“For all practical purposes, Feely's enthusiasms stopped where her skin ended.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/for-all-practical-purposes-feely-s-enthusiasms-stopped-where-her-skin/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Then I remembered that silence can sometimes do more damage than words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/then-i-remembered-that-silence-can-sometimes-do-more-damage-than-words/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) [Explore all 226 Alan Bradley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? 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