--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because if she let go of her grief even…" description: "\"Because if she let go of her grief even for a minute it would only hit her harder when she bumped into it again.\" — Alice Munro" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png" --- # Because if she let go of her grief even for a minute it… ![“Because if she let go of her grief even for a minute it would only hit her harder when she bumped into it again.” quote by Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png) > “Because if she let go of her grief even for a minute it would only hit her harder when she bumped into it again.” [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoiding grief temporarily can make the pain return stronger later, suggesting the need to confront sorrow directly. **In simple terms:** Ignoring grief can intensify it later. Key Takeaway Face grief rather than postpone it. Themes grief healing emotional health psychology Mood somber empathetic Type counseling motivational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal loss - support groups - journaling Key Concepts psychology emotional resilience self-care Questions to Reflect On - What emotions are you avoiding? - How might confronting grief change your outlook? A Different Perspective Suppressing emotions may lead to unresolved trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) ## Related quotes > [What's the newest grief? Each minute tunes a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/what-s-the-newest-grief-each-minute-tunes-a-new-one/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Ah, my sister used to hit me harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-burr/ah-my-sister-used-to-hit-me-harder/) Shawn Burr > [Earnie hit me harder than any other fighter, including Mike Tyson. He hit me and I was face down on the canvas hearing saxophonist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-holmes/earnie-hit-me-harder-than-any-other-fighter-including-mike-tyson-he/) [Larry Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-holmes/) > [Everything we love goes. So to be able to grieve that loss, to let go, to have that grief be absolutely full, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/everything-we-love-goes-so-to-be-able-to-grieve-that-loss-to-let-go/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [Tell me about it if it's something human. Let me into your grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/tell-me-about-it-if-it-s-something-human-let-me-into-your-grief/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [“Do not let grief be the only map you carry, lest you lose your way back to happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-guzeman/do-not-let-grief-be-the-only-map-you-carry-lest-you-lose-your-way/) [Tracy Guzeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-guzeman/) > [If grief or anger arises, Let there be grief or anger. This is the Buddha in all forms,Sun Buddha, Moon Buddha, Happy Buddha, Sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/if-grief-or-anger-arises-let-there-be-grief-or-anger-this-is-the/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [“Because in our pain we must find each other – mirror to mirror the grace of our shared humanity, the stunningly broken beauty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-leblanc/because-in-our-pain-we-must-find-each-other-mirror-to-mirror-the/) [Jeanette LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-leblanc/) > [“Don’t let grief be the end of your story. Let it be the beginning of the bridge you build, step by step, into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stiverson/don-t-let-grief-be-the-end-of-your-story-let-it-be-the-beginning-of/) Christina Stiverson > [It is good to divert our sorrow for other things to the root of all, which is sin. Let our grief run most in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-sibbes/it-is-good-to-divert-our-sorrow-for-other-things-to-the-root-of-all/) [Richard Sibbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-sibbes/) > [“Your mind is likewise blocked. But the right road awaits you still. Cast out your doubts, your fears and your desires, let go of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anicius-manlius-severinus-boethius/your-mind-is-likewise-blocked-but-the-right-road-awaits-you-still/) Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius > [“She didn't look up until he was gone. She saw him pas the outside wall of the pavilion and heard his footsteps recede into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-fisher-staples/she-didn-t-look-up-until-he-was-gone-she-saw-him-pas-the-outside-wall/) [Suzanne Fisher Staples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-fisher-staples/) > [“And quickly. If you let it, grief could swallow you whole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-alice-monroe/and-quickly-if-you-let-it-grief-could-swallow-you-whole/) [Mary Alice Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-alice-monroe/) > [Sad songs just hit so much harder when you're driving for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruel/sad-songs-just-hit-so-much-harder-when-you-re-driving-for-a-long-time/) Ruel > [I don't know what other fighters do, but when I get hit and go down, I smile and I say, 'I'm going to hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naseem-hamed/i-don-t-know-what-other-fighters-do-but-when-i-get-hit-and-go-down-i/) [Naseem Hamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naseem-hamed/) ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Something happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, were something happened, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/something-happened-here-in-your-life-there-are-a-few-places-or-maybe/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Explore all 261 Alice Munro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## 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": "Because if she let go of her grief even for a minute it would only hit her harder when she bumped into it again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even-for-a-minute-it-would-only/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even-for-a-minute-it-would-only/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/alice-munro-1231_grief_because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even_2186869.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because if she let go of her grief even for a minute it would only hit her harder when she bumped into it…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice Munro", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Because if she let go of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even-for-a-minute-it-would-only/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/because-if-she-let-go-of-her-grief-even-for-a-minute-it-would-only/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```