--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the…" description: "\"To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png" --- # To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair. ![“To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png) > “To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair.” [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. Contrasts how age influences perception of sorrow and despair. **In simple terms:** Age changes how we view sadness. Key Takeaway Recognize perspective shifts with age. Themes age emotion perception Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - counseling - intergenerational dialogue - literary analysis Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does your age affect your view of sorrow? - Can youthful despair become wisdom? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex emotional experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) ## Related quotes > [When sparrows build and the leaves break forth My old sorrow wakes and cries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ingelow/when-sparrows-build-and-the-leaves-break-forth-my-old-sorrow-wakes/) [Jean Ingelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ingelow/) > [“And if I,' said she, 'am young in years, I am old in sorrow;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/and-if-i-said-she-am-young-in-years-i-am-old-in-sorrow/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [Sorrow and frustration have their power. The world is moved by people with great discontents. Happiness is a drug. It can make men blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/sorrow-and-frustration-have-their-power-the-world-is-moved-by-people/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [“There is something sustaining in the very agitation that accompanies the first shocks of trouble, just as an acute pain is often a stimulus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-something-sustaining-in-the-very-agitation-that-accompanies/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Behind Joy and Laughter there may be a temperament, coarse, hard and callous. But behind Sorrow there is always Sorrow. Pain, unlike Pleasure, wears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/behind-joy-and-laughter-there-may-be-a-temperament-coarse-hard-and/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Renunciation remains sorrow, though a sorrow borne willingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/renunciation-remains-sorrow-though-a-sorrow-borne-willingly/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-else-does-anxiety-about-the-future-bring-you-but-sorrow-upon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you're saddened by another's sorrow, then sorrow will never come to you. If you are happy at another's joy then joy will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/if-you-re-saddened-by-another-s-sorrow-then-sorrow-will-never-come-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Who is there in this world who has never found sorrow? The path of sorrow and happiness is made for everyone. We will share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/who-is-there-in-this-world-who-has-never-found-sorrow-the-path-of/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, hoever, turns out to be not a state but a process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-thought-i-could-describe-a-state-make-a-map-of-sorrow-sorrow-hoever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pain is pain and sorrow is sorrow. It hurts. It limits. It impoverishes. It isolates. It restrains. It works devastation deep within the personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-clarkson/pain-is-pain-and-sorrow-is-sorrow-it-hurts-it-limits-it-impoverishes/) [Margaret Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-clarkson/) > [“Every moment of enjoyment Brings to some one else a sorrow, But your sorrow gladdens no one, For from sorrow naught but sorrow springs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/every-moment-of-enjoyment-brings-to-some-one-else-a-sorrow-but-your/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [We were born to die; we were born to endure, on the way to death, sorrow-sorrow in manifold shapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/we-were-born-to-die-we-were-born-to-endure-on-the-way-to-death-sorrow/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [She did not want to talk of her sorrow, but with that sorrow in her heart she could not talk of outside matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/she-did-not-want-to-talk-of-her-sorrow-but-with-that-sorrow-in-her/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Is not sorrow, all sorrow, selfish?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-may-alcott/is-not-sorrow-all-sorrow-selfish/) [Abby May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-may-alcott/) ## 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": "To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young-it-is-despair/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despair" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young-it-is-despair/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/george-eliot-84_despair_to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young_2616717.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair.” — 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": "To the old, sorrow is sorrow;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young-it-is-despair/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-the-old-sorrow-is-sorrow-to-the-young-it-is-despair/#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 } } ] } ```