--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your tears do not wash away your sorrows…" description: "\"“Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears.”\" — Amy Tan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/amy-tan-730_grief_your-tears-do-not-wash-away-your-sorrows_372931.jpg" --- # Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed… ![“Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears.” quote by Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/amy-tan-730_grief_your-tears-do-not-wash-away-your-sorrows_372931.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/amy-tan-730_grief_your-tears-do-not-wash-away-your-sorrows_372931.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd0/amy-tan-730_grief_your-tears-do-not-wash-away-your-sorrows_372931.jpg) > ““Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears.”” [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal sorrow can be transformed into joy for others, but one must accept and process their own pain. **In simple terms:** Your tears can help others, but you must handle yours first. Key Takeaway Accept and process your own grief. Themes grief empathy transformation self‑care Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical emotional When to use this quote - counseling - support groups - personal reflection Key Concepts Psychology emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to “swallow” your own tears? - How can you turn personal pain into positive action? A Different Perspective Focusing only on others may neglect self‑healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Strength through adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength-through-adversity/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) ## Related quotes > [“Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/your-tears-do-not-wash-away-your-sorrows-they-feed-someone-else-s-joy-2/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/now-you-see-said-the-turtle-drifting-back-into-the-pond-why-it-is/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“A strong breeze is natures way of blowing away our sorrows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-hoffman/a-strong-breeze-is-natures-way-of-blowing-away-our-sorrows/) [Beth Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-hoffman/) > [“I learned that I was never alone, that there was Someone always very close by and, indeed, within me, giving me strength in times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-f-girzone/i-learned-that-i-was-never-alone-that-there-was-someone-always-very/) [Joseph F. Girzone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-f-girzone/) > [“Tears of grief are unique. They contain chemicals that aren't found in the more mundane droplets of moisture that bathe the eyes, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-cassella/tears-of-grief-are-unique-they-contain-chemicals-that-aren-t-found-in/) [Carol Cassella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-cassella/) > [“Tears of grief are unique. They contain chemicals that aren't found in the more mundane droplets of moisture that bathe the eyes, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-cassella/tears-of-grief-are-unique-they-contain-chemicals-that-aren-t-found-in-2/) [Carol Cassella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-cassella/) > [I fall to the floor as the tears start to flow, the tears will wash away but the feelings wont go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-fall-to-the-floor-as-the-tears-start-to-flow-the-tears-will-wash/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Repentant tears wash out the stain of guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/repentant-tears-wash-out-the-stain-of-guilt/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [A million tears can wash my feelings for you!!!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-million-tears-can-wash-my-feelings-for-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Not even a thousand tears can wash away the feelings I still have for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-trinh/not-even-a-thousand-tears-can-wash-away-the-feelings-i-still-have-for/) Jason Trinh > [God's Love & power can heal your pain & your tears can wash your soul like rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-hart/god-s-love-power-can-heal-your-pain-your-tears-can-wash-your-soul/) [Lorenzo Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-hart/) > [Where sin was hatched, let tears now wash the nest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southwell/where-sin-was-hatched-let-tears-now-wash-the-nest/) [Robert Southwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southwell/) > [In the world of pain only tears can wash away the hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-world-of-pain-only-tears-can-wash-away-the-hurt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where sin was hatch'd, let tears now wash the nest, Where life was lost, recover life with cries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southwell/where-sin-was-hatch-d-let-tears-now-wash-the-nest-where-life-was-lost/) [Robert Southwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southwell/) > [There are people who are willing to suffer and swallow their tears at leisure, and God will not doubt reward them in heaven for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/there-are-people-who-are-willing-to-suffer-and-swallow-their-tears-at/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) ## More by Amy Tan > [So sad! This is the saddest part when you lose someone you love- that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/so-sad-this-is-the-saddest-part-when-you-lose-someone-you-love-that/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Too many good things all seem the same after a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/too-many-good-things-all-seem-the-same-after-a-while/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“bad, how likely is it to come”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/bad-how-likely-is-it-to-come/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/a-mother-is-always-the-beginning-she-is-how-things-begin/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Shanghainese people are good negotiators, they're very persistent, and you grow up in an atmosphere like that - very competitive. 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Your tears do not wash away your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/now-you-see-said-the-turtle-drifting-back-into-the-pond-why-it-is/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-hid-my-deepest-feelings-so-well-i-forgot-where-i-placed-them/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“Lebih baik jadi orang yang TIDAK TERLUPAKAN daripada orang yang MEMBOSANKAN -”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/lebih-baik-jadi-orang-yang-tidak-terlupakan-daripada-orang-yang/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [After all, Bao Bomu says, what is the past but what we choose to remember?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/after-all-bao-bomu-says-what-is-the-past-but-what-we-choose-to/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [We all become different readers in how we respond to books, why we need them, what we take from them. 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Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-am-ashamed-she-is-ashamed-because-she-is-my-daughter-and-i-am-proud/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) [Explore all 383 Amy Tan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) ## 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": "“Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy. 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