--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...this woman, moved by some private…" description: "\"“...this woman, moved by some private sorrow as much as the words being spoken, cried almost silently, unobserved by others, apart from Mma Ramotswe, w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/alexander-mccall-smith-372_grief_this-woman-moved-by-some-private-sorrow_3215825.png" --- # ...this woman, moved by some private sorrow as much as the… ![“...this woman, moved by some private sorrow as much as the words being spoken, cried almost silently, unobserved by others, apart from Mma Ramotswe, who stretched out her hand and laid it on her shoulder. Do not cry, Mma , she began to whisper, but changed her words even as she uttered them, and…” quote by Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/alexander-mccall-smith-372_grief_this-woman-moved-by-some-private-sorrow_3215825.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/alexander-mccall-smith-372_grief_this-woman-moved-by-some-private-sorrow_3215825.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/alexander-mccall-smith-372_grief_this-woman-moved-by-some-private-sorrow_3215825.png) > ““...this woman, moved by some private sorrow as much as the words being spoken, cried almost silently, unobserved by others, apart from Mma Ramotswe, who stretched out her hand and laid it on her shoulder. Do not cry, Mma , she began to whisper, but changed her words even as she uttered them, and said quietly, Yes, you can cry, Mma . We should not tell people not to weep - we do it because of our sympathy for them - but we should really tell them that their tears are justified and entirely right.”” [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compassionate empathy validates others' grief rather than suppressing it, encouraging authentic emotional expression. **In simple terms:** Validate others' tears as natural and right. Key Takeaway Allow people to grieve openly. Themes empathy grief validation compassion Mood empathetic supportive Type advice literary When to use this quote - counseling sessions - friend support - family discussions - support groups Key Concepts emotional intelligence psychology human connection Questions to Reflect On - How can you show empathy without overstepping? - When is it appropriate to encourage tears? A Different Perspective Some may view open crying as weakness in certain cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [People Weep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-weep-407958/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Spoken Cried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoken-cried-6026595/) [Tears Justified](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears-justified-6026596/) [Tell Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-tears-1894952/) [Weep Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weep-sympathy-6026597/) ## Related quotes > [It's very simple, I just tell my sad story, and people weep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corazon-aquino/it-s-very-simple-i-just-tell-my-sad-story-and-people-weep/) [Corazon Aquino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corazon-aquino/) > [I see Hermes, unsuspected, dying, well-beloved, saying to the people, "Do not weep for me, This is not my true country, I have lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-see-hermes-unsuspected-dying-well-beloved-saying-to-the-people-do/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [When I think of Chinese parents, I think of people who weep upon hearing Beethoven, but who can't necessarily bring that joy to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/when-i-think-of-chinese-parents-i-think-of-people-who-weep-upon/) [Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/) > [People weep at music all the time, because music gives form to some abstract level of integration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bradley/people-weep-at-music-all-the-time-because-music-gives-form-to-some/) [Joe Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bradley/) > [“God is weeping. And how the people weep when they make God weep!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-marti/god-is-weeping-and-how-the-people-weep-when-they-make-god-weep/) [José Martí](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-marti/) > [I understand that there are forms of entertainment that can make people weep or jazz them up so they feel like they have had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/i-understand-that-there-are-forms-of-entertainment-that-can-make/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [I can tell by your tears... you will remember it all!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-tell-by-your-tears-you-will-remember-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can tell by your tears that you will remember it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-tell-by-your-tears-that-you-will-remember-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Look into my eyes, tell me what you see. Do you see tears? Brokenness? An abandoned soul? No, you don't because I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie/look-into-my-eyes-tell-me-what-you-see-do-you-see-tears-brokenness-an/) [Leslie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie/) > [Whenever you feel yourself in the sea of Tears, Worries, Tensions. Just go and offer your prayer then bow yourself before HIM.! Close your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/whenever-you-feel-yourself-in-the-sea-of-tears-worries-tensions-just/) [Pacifiersucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pacifiersucker/) > [The people that weep before my paintings are having the same religious experience that I had when I painted it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/the-people-that-weep-before-my-paintings-are-having-the-same/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [When it rains down your face, tell me where do the tears end up?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/when-it-rains-down-your-face-tell-me-where-do-the-tears-end-up/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [“Soon this would just be who I was. Soon old me would be dead too. I tipped my head against the cold glass of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-matson/soon-this-would-just-be-who-i-was-soon-old-me-would-be-dead-too-i/) [Morgan Matson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-matson/) > [Anyway, it's gone. And there's nothing left in my pocket to charm you. So from now on it's going to have to be tears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/anyway-it-s-gone-and-there-s-nothing-left-in-my-pocket-to-charm-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [“Those eyes had seen people weep, and had cared, and had hurt them again anyway. It’s a look that no human eyes should ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/those-eyes-had-seen-people-weep-and-had-cared-and-had-hurt-them-again/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## More by Alexander McCall Smith > [“old-fashioned, gentle Scottish physician, unmoved by the considerations of profit and personal gain that could so disfigure medicine. That doctors should consider themselves businessmen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/old-fashioned-gentle-scottish-physician-unmoved-by-the-considerations/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“She had not made a lot of money, but she had not made a loss, and she had been happy and entertained. That counted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/she-had-not-made-a-lot-of-money-but-she-had-not-made-a-loss-and-she/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [And that, in a way, was the burden of being a philosopher: one knew what one had to do, but it was so often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/and-that-in-a-way-was-the-burden-of-being-a-philosopher-one-knew-what/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“To use strong language, she thought, was a sign of bad temper and lack of concern for others. Such people were not clever or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/to-use-strong-language-she-thought-was-a-sign-of-bad-temper-and-lack/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“Men are very sensitive, Mma Makutsi. You would not always think it to look at them, but they are. They do not like you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/men-are-very-sensitive-mma-makutsi-you-would-not-always-think-it-to/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“He is a good man, but even a good man can fall for a glamorous woman. That is well known.” “That is very well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/he-is-a-good-man-but-even-a-good-man-can-fall-for-a-glamorous-woman/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“And then the second thing you have to do is go and see your son. That is a duty of love, Andrew. It's as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/and-then-the-second-thing-you-have-to-do-is-go-and-see-your-son-that/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“Because laughs never die away entirely,” said Jamie. “At least, if you believe in Marconi.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/because-laughs-never-die-away-entirely-said-jamie-at-least-if-you/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“The trouble with having a conscience, she said to herself, is that it never sleeps.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/the-trouble-with-having-a-conscience-she-said-to-herself-is-that-it/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“And if there's bad behaviour," Mma Potokwane went on. "If there's bad behaviour, the quickest way of stopping it is to give more love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/and-if-there-s-bad-behaviour-mma-potokwane-went-on-if-there-s-bad/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“We never realise how transparent we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/we-never-realise-how-transparent-we-are/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“Has he not got a wife back wherever he comes from? Is there no wife to say, ‘You must not go off and visit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/has-he-not-got-a-wife-back-wherever-he-comes-from-is-there-no-wife-to/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“He looked at her in the darkness, at this woman who was everything to him-mother, Africa, wisdom, understanding, good things to eat, pumpkins, chicken,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/he-looked-at-her-in-the-darkness-at-this-woman-who-was-everything-to/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“It is because you are generous in spirit; and may I be like that; may I become like you—which unrealistic wish, to become the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/it-is-because-you-are-generous-in-spirit-and-may-i-be-like-that-may-i/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni,” she asked, “do you think that our souls grow as we get older?” He did not answer immediately, but when he did,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/mr-j-l-b-matekoni-she-asked-do-you-think-that-our-souls-grow-as-we/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) [Explore all 628 Alexander McCall Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) ## 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": "“...this woman, moved by some private sorrow as much as the words being spoken, cried almost silently, unobserved by others, apart from Mma Ramotswe, who stretched out her hand and laid it on her shoulder. 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