--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ought we not, from time to time, open…" description: "\"ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg" --- # ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to… ![“ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for…” quote by Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg) > “ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for your sorrow, and instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge-from which new sorrows will be born for others-then sorrow will never cease in this world and will multiply.” [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Acknowledging and honoring one's own grief creates space for healing and prevents the spread of further pain. **In simple terms:** Accept sorrow, give it room, stop it from turning into hate. Key Takeaway Embrace grief honestly to break its cycle. Themes grief empathy healing responsibility Mood reflective somber hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal loss - trauma recovery - conflict resolution - mental health care Key Concepts psychology emotional intelligence compassion Questions to Reflect On - How do you currently make space for your grief? - What habits can prevent grief from turning into anger? A Different Perspective If sorrow is suppressed, it can transform into destructive emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) [Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) [Cosmic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmic/) [Cosmic Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmic-sadness-5192980/) [Decent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decent/) [Dues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dues/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Honestly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honestly/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Reserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reserves/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Shelter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shelter/) [Shelter Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shelter-sorrow-3787373/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrow Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-cease-5192982/) [Sorrow Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-space-5192981/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [This world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-world/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [If I dropped a tear upon your hand, may it wither it up! If I spoke a gentle word in your hearing, may it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/if-i-dropped-a-tear-upon-your-hand-may-it-wither-it-up-if-i-spoke-a/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed...No one knows when emergencies will strike...Set your houses in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/there-is-a-portent-of-stormy-weather-ahead-to-which-we-had-better/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [Repeal the entire Banking Act of 1933, and Austrian School economists will cheer, especially if the current system were replaced by a 100%-reserve competitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-rockwell/repeal-the-entire-banking-act-of-1933-and-austrian-school-economists/) [Llewellyn Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-rockwell/) > [I think it would be interesting to know about the Federal Reserve. I think we should audit the Federal Reserve - it's taxpayer's money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-reid/i-think-it-would-be-interesting-to-know-about-the-federal-reserve-i/) [Harry Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-reid/) > [Prices are going up. Unemployment is continue to go up. And we have not had the necessary correction for the financial bubble created by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/prices-are-going-up-unemployment-is-continue-to-go-up-and-we-have-not/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [We have for too long put vast oil and natural gas reserves off limits to exploration and production, as The Washington Post editorial stated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-costa/we-have-for-too-long-put-vast-oil-and-natural-gas-reserves-off-limits/) [Jim Costa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-costa/) > [People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/people-reveal-themselves-completely-only-when-they-are-thrown-out-of/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [These movies belonged to the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries that period of great, unsustainable, and hedonistic prosperity, driven by the burning of Earth's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-wilson/these-movies-belonged-to-the-twentieth-and-early-twenty-first/) [Robert Charles Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-wilson/) > [Back in those days, in the fifties and sixties, countries had balance of payment's deficits or surpluses, those were reflected much more than today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-c-solomon/back-in-those-days-in-the-fifties-and-sixties-countries-had-balance/) [Robert C. Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-c-solomon/) > [My single biggest financial concern is the loss of the dollar as the reserve currency. I can't imagine anything more disastrous to our country.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-zell/my-single-biggest-financial-concern-is-the-loss-of-the-dollar-as-the/) [Sam Zell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-zell/) > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. And everything that I learn, I learn for a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/i-have-no-admiration-for-culture-i-have-no-reserve-knowledge-no/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [A great reserve and severity of manners are necessary for the command of those who are older than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/a-great-reserve-and-severity-of-manners-are-necessary-for-the-command/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [In work we act under the predominant motive of external, rational necessities; in pleasure, under the predominant motive of other, equally general necessities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolay-chernyshevsky/in-work-we-act-under-the-predominant-motive-of-external-rational/) [Nikolay Chernyshevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolay-chernyshevsky/) > [The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bernanke/the-federal-reserve-is-not-currently-forecasting-a-recession/) [Ben Bernanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bernanke/) > [Our acts of kindness we reserve for our friends, our bounties for our dependants, our riches for our children and relations, our praises for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-massillon/our-acts-of-kindness-we-reserve-for-our-friends-our-bounties-for-our/) [Jean Baptiste Massillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-massillon/) ## More by Etty Hillesum > [A large group of us were crowded into the Gestapo hall, and at that moment the circumstances of all our lives were the same.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/a-large-group-of-us-were-crowded-into-the-gestapo-hall-and-at-that/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/every-word-born-of-an-inner-necessity-writing-must-never-be-anything/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [That fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/that-fear-of-missing-out-on-things-makes-you-miss-out-on-everything/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [There are moments when I feel like giving up or giving in, but I soon rally again and do my duty as I see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/there-are-moments-when-i-feel-like-giving-up-or-giving-in-but-i-soon/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Here, beside this great black surface that is my desk, I feel as though I am on a desert island.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/here-beside-this-great-black-surface-that-is-my-desk-i-feel-as-though/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [The externals are simply so many props; everything we need is within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/the-externals-are-simply-so-many-props-everything-we-need-is-within-us/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [If one finds the strength to deal with small things, one finds it to deal with the large ones as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/if-one-finds-the-strength-to-deal-with-small-things-one-finds-it-to/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [All disasters stem from us. Why is there a war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at my neighbour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/all-disasters-stem-from-us-why-is-there-a-war-perhaps-because-now-and/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/sometimes-the-most-important-thing-in-a-whole-day-is-the-rest-we-take/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [We human beings cause monstrous conditions, but precisely because we cause them we soon learn to adapt ourselves to them. Only if we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/we-human-beings-cause-monstrous-conditions-but-precisely-because-we/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/despite-everything-life-is-full-of-beauty-and-meaning/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Sometimes my day is crammed full of people and talk and yet I have the feeling of living in utter peace and quiet. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/sometimes-my-day-is-crammed-full-of-people-and-talk-and-yet-i-have/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse, that's quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/to-live-fully-outwardly-and-inwardly-not-to-ignore-the-external/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [If one burdens the future with one's worries, it cannot grow organically. I am filled with confidence, not that I shall succeed in worldly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/if-one-burdens-the-future-with-one-s-worries-it-cannot-grow/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies. We make mental provisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/we-have-to-fight-them-daily-like-fleas-those-many-small-worries-about/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) [Explore all 62 Etty Hillesum quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) ## More Bears quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/) [George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/) > [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/) [St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/) [Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for your sorrow, and instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge-from which new sorrows will be born for others-then sorrow will never cease in this world and will multiply.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Etty Hillesum" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ourselves-up-to-cosmic-sadness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bears" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ourselves-up-to-cosmic-sadness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/etty-hillesum-9002_bears_ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ours_3070648.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and…” — Etty Hillesum", "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": "Etty Hillesum", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "ought we not, from time to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ourselves-up-to-cosmic-sadness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/ought-we-not-from-time-to-time-open-ourselves-up-to-cosmic-sadness/#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 } } ] } ```