--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no despair so absolute as that…" description: "\"“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from 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/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg" --- # There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from… ![“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from the first moments of our first great sorrow when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and healed, to have despaired and recovered hope.” quote by George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg) > ““There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from the first moments of our first great sorrow when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and healed, to have despaired and recovered hope.”” [George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Despair is deepest when we have not yet experienced suffering and recovery, lacking perspective on hope. **In simple terms:** Despair is strongest before we know hope after suffering. Key Takeaway Recognize that pain can lead to future hope. Themes suffering hope despair growth Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal loss - grief counseling - mental health recovery - spiritual reflection Key Concepts existential psychology Questions to Reflect On - What past hardships have later become sources of strength? - How can we cultivate hope before feeling it? A Different Perspective Hope may feel distant when pain is fresh, making it hard to envision recovery. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair Absolute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair-absolute-601890/) [Despaired Recovered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despaired-recovered-601888/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Healed Despaired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healed-despaired-601886/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Recovered Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recovered-hope-601889/) [Suffered Healed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffered-healed-601887/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-with-the-first/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [... 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 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/) > [“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/) > [“...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/) ## More by George Elliot > [What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labour,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/what-greater-thing-is-there-for-two-human-souls-than-to-feel-that-2/) [George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) > [We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/we-long-for-an-affection-altogether-ignorant-of-our-faults/) [George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) > [It's never too late to become what you might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/it-s-never-too-late-to-become-what-you-might-have-been/) [George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) > [“Our deeds travel with us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/our-deeds-travel-with-us-from-afar-and-what-we-have-been-makes-us/) [George Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) [Explore all 5 George Elliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/) ## 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": "“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from the first moments of our first great sorrow when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and healed, to have despaired and recovered hope.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Elliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-from-the-first/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-from-the-first/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db6/george-elliot-58354_grief_there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that_2228313.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes from the first moments of our first great sorrow when we…” — George Elliot", "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 Elliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-elliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There is no despair so absolute...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-from-the-first/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-elliot/there-is-no-despair-so-absolute-as-that-which-comes-from-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 } } ] } ```