--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People in grief need someone to walk with…" description: "\"People in grief need someone to walk with them without judging them.\" — Gail Sheehy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png" --- # People in grief need someone to walk with them without… ![“People in grief need someone to walk with them without judging them.” quote by Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png) > “People in grief need someone to walk with them without judging them.” [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grieving people need a non‑judgmental companion to walk alongside them. **In simple terms:** Grief needs a supportive, non‑judgmental companion. Key Takeaway Offer presence without judgment. Themes grief companionship empathy Mood compassionate supportive Type advice psychological When to use this quote - hospital visits - support groups - personal loss Key Concepts psychology support non‑judgmental Questions to Reflect On - How can you be present without offering solutions? - What boundaries are needed when supporting grief? A Different Perspective Companionship alone may not solve deep pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [From perfect grief there need not beWisdom or even memory;One thing then learned remains to me -The woodspurge has a cup of three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-gabriel-rossetti/from-perfect-grief-there-need-not-bewisdom-or-even-memory-one-thing/) [Dante Gabriel Rossetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-gabriel-rossetti/) > [In short, if your body or mind Or your soul or your purse come to grief, You need only get drunk, and you'll find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-kenneth-stephen/in-short-if-your-body-or-mind-or-your-soul-or-your-purse-come-to/) [James Kenneth Stephen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-kenneth-stephen/) > [“The reality of grief is far different from what others see from the outside. There is pain in this world that you can't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-devine/the-reality-of-grief-is-far-different-from-what-others-see-from-the/) [Megan Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-devine/) > [“To fuel yet another war this time against Iraq by cynically manipulating people's grief, by packaging it for TV specials sponsored by corporations selling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/to-fuel-yet-another-war-this-time-against-iraq-by-cynically/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [What I am trying to do is bring people into grief in relation to the society we have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/what-i-am-trying-to-do-is-bring-people-into-grief-in-relation-to-the/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“This is why you need everyone you know after a disaster, because there is not one right response. It's what paralyzes people around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/this-is-why-you-need-everyone-you-know-after-a-disaster-because-there/) [Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/) > [“people in grief can imagine many things. It makes them feel better. It doesn't make it real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/people-in-grief-can-imagine-many-things-it-makes-them-feel-better-it/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“Other people's grief is sweet; success is not joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamerlan-kuzgov/other-people-s-grief-is-sweet-success-is-not-joy/) [Tamerlan Kuzgov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamerlan-kuzgov/) > [“It's grief," said Akiva. "It's rage. It makes us into the thing we despise." And he thought, And I was the thing you despised.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/it-s-grief-said-akiva-it-s-rage-it-makes-us-into-the-thing-we-despise/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [“I need to tell about my people in their grief. I don’t think grief is something they get over or get away from. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-need-to-tell-about-my-people-in-their-grief-i-don-t-think-grief-is/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [People are people, and grief that is limited to those within a specific political boundary denies the humanity of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jensen/people-are-people-and-grief-that-is-limited-to-those-within-a/) [Robert Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jensen/) > [One of the things that happens to people in grief is they secretly think they're crazy, because they realize they are thinking things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/one-of-the-things-that-happens-to-people-in-grief-is-they-secretly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“There was something about other people's grief that was so exposing, so personal, that she felt she shouldn't be looking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fallon/there-was-something-about-other-people-s-grief-that-was-so-exposing/) [Jane Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fallon/) > [God made us walking animals - pedestrians. As a fish needs to swim, a bird to fly, a deer to run, we need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-penalosa/god-made-us-walking-animals-pedestrians-as-a-fish-needs-to-swim-a/) [Enrique Penalosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-penalosa/) > [Sometimes I need to go for a walk for inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-cornejo/sometimes-i-need-to-go-for-a-walk-for-inspiration/) [Maria Cornejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-cornejo/) ## More by Gail Sheehy > [I actually like getting out of my comfort zone. It shakes me up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-actually-like-getting-out-of-my-comfort-zone-it-shakes-me-up/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/to-be-tested-is-good-the-challenged-life-may-be-the-best-therapist/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [No one can control the aging process or the trajectory of illness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/no-one-can-control-the-aging-process-or-the-trajectory-of-illness/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [“Further discomfort from these new realities afflicts men who expected to reach a certain level by dint of their white maleness but who now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/further-discomfort-from-these-new-realities-afflicts-men-who-expected/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I dare to do things - that's how I survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-dare-to-do-things-that-s-how-i-survive/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [Spontaneity, the hallmark of childhood, is well worth cultivating to counteract the rigidity that may otherwise set in as we grow older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/spontaneity-the-hallmark-of-childhood-is-well-worth-cultivating-to/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [By listening, by caring, by playing you back to yourself, friends ratify your better instincts and endorse your unique worth. Friends validate you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/by-listening-by-caring-by-playing-you-back-to-yourself-friends-ratify/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [The first thing one notices about Jill Abramson is her short stature. The second is her intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/the-first-thing-one-notices-about-jill-abramson-is-her-short-stature/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [“Ignorant of our own and our mate’s inner life, we are ruled largely by external forces at this stage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/ignorant-of-our-own-and-our-mate-s-inner-life-we-are-ruled-largely-by/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [Family caregiving has become a predictable crisis. Americans are living longer and longer but dying slower and slower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/family-caregiving-has-become-a-predictable-crisis-americans-are/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [“The other real forces urging young people into marriages generally sift down to one of the following: the need for safety, the need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/the-other-real-forces-urging-young-people-into-marriages-generally/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I'd visually have that idea. I'm diving off the end of the diving board. I'm not going to be worried about if I'm going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-d-visually-have-that-idea-i-m-diving-off-the-end-of-the-diving/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [To hear how special and wonderful we are is endlessly enthralling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/to-hear-how-special-and-wonderful-we-are-is-endlessly-enthralling/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [When men reach their sixties and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/when-men-reach-their-sixties-and-retire-they-go-to-pieces-women-go/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [Journalism today is obviously in a major transition. Going to journalism school, learning how to write, working your way up in a little paper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/journalism-today-is-obviously-in-a-major-transition-going-to/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) [Explore all 142 Gail Sheehy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) ## 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": "People in grief need someone to walk with them without judging them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gail Sheehy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-with-them-without-judging-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-with-them-without-judging-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/gail-sheehy-3031_grief_people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-wit_850965.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People in grief need someone to walk with them without judging them.” — Gail Sheehy", "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": "Gail Sheehy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People in grief need someone to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-with-them-without-judging-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/people-in-grief-need-someone-to-walk-with-them-without-judging-them/#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 } } ] } ```