--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no despair so absolute as that…" description: "\"There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suf..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg" --- # There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with… ![“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg) > “There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early grief is overwhelming because we lack experience of suffering and recovery. **In simple terms:** First sorrow feels absolute. Key Takeaway Seek support to navigate new pain. Themes grief healing experience Mood reflective empathetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - counseling - support groups - personal reflection Key Concepts emotional resilience psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does experience change pain? - What resources help recovery? A Different Perspective Healing takes time, not instant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from the first moments of our first great sorrow when we have not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-from-the-first/) [George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) > [“She had no tears this morning. She had wept them all away last night, and now she felt that dry-eyed morning misery, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-had-no-tears-this-morning-she-had-wept-them-all-away-last-night/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Satan's despair is absolute because Satan, as pure spirit, is pure consciousness, and for Satan (and all men in his predicament) every increase in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/satan-s-despair-is-absolute-because-satan-as-pure-spirit-is-pure/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a person deliberately turns his back on all help from anyone else in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/despair-is-the-absolute-extreme-of-self-love-it-is-reached-when-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The perpetual mourner -- the grief that can never be healed -- is innocently enough felt to be wearisome by the rest of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-perpetual-mourner-the-grief-that-can-never-be-healed-is/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The recovery of spiritual sight and the healing of physical blindness have much in common. Some of those whose bodily eyes were blind received…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/the-recovery-of-spiritual-sight-and-the-healing-of-physical-blindness/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [That which is denied cannot be healed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/that-which-is-denied-cannot-be-healed/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [I was drunk: Christian and drunk. They just don't go together. But that's what happened. And the next day, obviously God had honored those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hamilton/i-was-drunk-christian-and-drunk-they-just-don-t-go-together-but-that/) [Jim Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hamilton/) > [“And still others heard: dreeeple zoonnnnnnggggggg ummmmmtwrrrdssss Calling from the beyond Whatever it was, it touched E.T.'s healing finger, and caused it to glow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kotzwinkle/and-still-others-heard-dreeeple-zoonnnnnnggggggg-ummmmmtwrrrdssss/) [William Kotzwinkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kotzwinkle/) > [Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness. Conviviality is healing. To be healed we must come with all the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/healing-is-impossible-in-loneliness-it-is-the-opposite-of-loneliness/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The country is so wounded, bleeding, and hurt right now. The country needs to be healed-it's not going to be healed from the top,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/the-country-is-so-wounded-bleeding-and-hurt-right-now-the-country/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [“You got me, Sam. You own my soul, baby. You got me…and you healed me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-zolendz/you-got-me-sam-you-own-my-soul-baby-you-got-me-and-you-healed-me/) [Christine Zolendz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-zolendz/) > [Funny how internal scars never healed. They were the souvenirs of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/funny-how-internal-scars-never-healed-they-were-the-souvenirs-of-the/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Despair quotes > [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“She searched her mind for a single day when it had felt good to be alive. There must have been one, surely?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-abbott/she-searched-her-mind-for-a-single-day-when-it-had-felt-good-to-be/) [Rachel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-abbott/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. It's the part drawn to hope, that will not give in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/your-spirit-is-the-part-of-you-that-seeks-meaning-and-purpose-it-s/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The skin and shell of things Though fair are not Thy wish nor prayer but got My meer despair of wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-vaughan/the-skin-and-shell-of-things-though-fair-are-not-thy-wish-nor-prayer/) [Henry Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-vaughan/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) Louaiq8 > [True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/true-repentance-never-leads-to-despair-its-leads-home-it-leads-to/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Do not consider despair as a thick and high wall standing on your way; it is just a darkness and you can still walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-not-consider-despair-as-a-thick-and-high-wall-standing-on-your-way/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Browse all 3,181 Despair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-with-the-first/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despair" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-with-the-first/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/george-eliot-84_despair_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2454769.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when…” — George Eliot", "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": "George Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is no despair so absolute...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-with-the-first/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-with-the-first/#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 } } ] } ```