--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People once believed that when someone…" description: "\"People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27e/james-o-barr-26612_crow_people-once-believed-that-when-someone-d_2868116.png" --- # People once believed that when someone dies, a crow… ![“People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.” quote by James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27e/james-o-barr-26612_crow_people-once-believed-that-when-someone-d_2868116.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27e/james-o-barr-26612_crow_people-once-believed-that-when-someone-d_2868116.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27e/james-o-barr-26612_crow_people-once-believed-that-when-someone-d_2868116.png) > “People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.” [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Myths of crows carrying souls illustrate that grief can trap souls, but redemption may be possible through confronting past wrongs. **In simple terms:** Crows symbolize soul’s journey after death. Key Takeaway Confront past to heal lingering grief. Themes grief redemption mythology Mood somber hopeful Type mythological psychological When to use this quote - therapy - rituals - storytelling Key Concepts afterlife symbolism psychological closure Questions to Reflect On - What past wrongs need addressing? - How do you release lingering grief? A Different Perspective Myths may not reflect personal experience; healing is individual. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [When someone dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/when-someone-dies/) ## Related quotes > [People once believed that, when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-once-believed-that-when-someone-dies-a-crow-carries-their-soul/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Each man carries within him the soul of a poet who died young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/each-man-carries-within-him-the-soul-of-a-poet-who-died-young/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Sincerity carries the soul in all simplicity to open its heart to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/sincerity-carries-the-soul-in-all-simplicity-to-open-its-heart-to-god/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [The photo replaces the memory. When someone dies, after a while you can't visualize them anymore, you only remember them through their pictures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-boltanski/the-photo-replaces-the-memory-when-someone-dies-after-a-while-you-can/) [Christian Boltanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-boltanski/) > [Life is precious, and when someone dies it's an opportunity to realise how precious it is. My brother drowned when I was 17. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-kilmer/life-is-precious-and-when-someone-dies-it-s-an-opportunity-to-realise/) [Val Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-kilmer/) > [The best way to look at countries on a map is like a chalk outline drawn by the police when someone dies what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/the-best-way-to-look-at-countries-on-a-map-is-like-a-chalk-outline/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [It's like when someone dies, the initial stages of grief seem to be the worst. But in some ways, it's sadder as time goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/it-s-like-when-someone-dies-the-initial-stages-of-grief-seem-to-be/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [Cadavers and spirits are human refuse, and they are absurdly difficult to dispose of properly. When someone dies, a small gang of specialists is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/cadavers-and-spirits-are-human-refuse-and-they-are-absurdly-difficult/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [The catalog of emotion that disappears when someone dies, and the degree to which we rely on a few people to record something of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-manguso/the-catalog-of-emotion-that-disappears-when-someone-dies-and-the/) [Sarah Manguso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-manguso/) > [You really have to do your job as a writer and push people to be as creative as possible. What's nice about the TV…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-mazzara/you-really-have-to-do-your-job-as-a-writer-and-push-people-to-be-as/) [Glen Mazzara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-mazzara/) > [When someone dies, it is like when your house burns down; it isn't for years that you realize the full extent of your loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-someone-dies-it-is-like-when-your-house-burns-down-it-isn-t-for/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I like birthdays because we celebrate life with cakes. It's so cool. Sometimes when I see a baby, I'm like that much more cake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/i-like-birthdays-because-we-celebrate-life-with-cakes-it-s-so-cool/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [And our lady friend, she thinks life works like a fairy tale.' Well, that’s harmless, isn’t it?' Yeah, but in fairy tales, when someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/and-our-lady-friend-she-thinks-life-works-like-a-fairy-tale-well-that/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [When someone dies, you don't get over it by forgetting; you get over it by remembering, and you are aware that no person is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/when-someone-dies-you-don-t-get-over-it-by-forgetting-you-get-over-it/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [His whole body was completely still, except the wings, which were still fluttering a little, like when someone dies. That's when he finally understood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/his-whole-body-was-completely-still-except-the-wings-which-were-still/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) ## More by James O'Barr > [“There are no boundries between good and evil where love is concerned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/there-are-no-boundries-between-good-and-evil-where-love-is-concerned/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [Life is just a dream on the way to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/life-is-just-a-dream-on-the-way-to-death/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [Fear is for the enemy. Fear and bullets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/fear-is-for-the-enemy-fear-and-bullets/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [Funboy: Pal, something is seriously wrong with you. The Crow: Atrocity has that effect on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/funboy-pal-something-is-seriously-wrong-with-you-the-crow-atrocity/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [It can't rain all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/it-can-t-rain-all-the-time/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [“When sorrow comes, they come not single spies, but in battalions. I've allies in heaven, Jack, i've commrades in hell...say hello for me...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/when-sorrow-comes-they-come-not-single-spies-but-in-battalions-i-ve/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [So the crow spirals down through a collapsed dream and the only sound it makes in like a concave scream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/so-the-crow-spirals-down-through-a-collapsed-dream-and-the-only-sound/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [“I know why Jesus wept Motherfucker”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/i-know-why-jesus-wept-motherfucker/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [“Nothing is trivial.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/nothing-is-trivial/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [Death, like virtue, has its degrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/death-like-virtue-has-its-degrees/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [There is a man, playing a violin, and the strings are the nerves in his own arm...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/there-is-a-man-playing-a-violin-and-the-strings-are-the-nerves-in-his/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [“Sarah: "Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/sarah-buildings-burn-people-die-but-real-love-is-forever/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/if-the-people-we-love-are-stolen-from-us-the-way-to-have-them-live-on-2/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [“Sometimes I dream of sleepiness, sometimes I feel like I'm alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/sometimes-i-dream-of-sleepiness-sometimes-i-feel-like-i-m-alive/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) > [It's not death if you refuse it... It is if you accept it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-o-barr/it-s-not-death-if-you-refuse-it-it-is-if-you-accept-it/) [James O'Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) [Explore all 20 James O'Barr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-o-barr/) ## More Crow quotes > [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. All because he'd wanted to live, forget genius and destiny, and simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/that-fucking-crow-bodied-thing-had-won-how-gleeful-it-was-now-all/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“I pull his hand up to my chest. "It's okay. Some of my best friends are in the mob. It must be really tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorge-leedy/i-pull-his-hand-up-to-my-chest-it-s-okay-some-of-my-best-friends-are/) [Giorge Leedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorge-leedy/) > [Here the crow starves, here the patient stag Breeds for the rifle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-stearns-eliot/here-the-crow-starves-here-the-patient-stag-breeds-for-the-rifle/) [Thomas Stearns Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-stearns-eliot/) > [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/) [John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/) > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“music puts me in touch with life's energy and death still hanging like an old crow on the vines of my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/music-puts-me-in-touch-with-life-s-energy-and-death-still-hanging/) [Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/) > [It's a matter of how the bullpen looks as to whether Bell goes in there or Crow goes in there. Bell won't be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-graham/it-s-a-matter-of-how-the-bullpen-looks-as-to-whether-bell-goes-in/) Wayne Graham > [I've always been a really really big Sheryl Crow fan. I just respect what she does in a way that she just remains true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-voegele/i-ve-always-been-a-really-really-big-sheryl-crow-fan-i-just-respect/) [Kate Voegele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-voegele/) > [I went from an unemployed actor's life to doing stand-up comedy, and that was fortuitous. It's not the usual way the crow flies, going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-tate/i-went-from-an-unemployed-actor-s-life-to-doing-stand-up-comedy-and/) [Catherine Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-tate/) > [You cannot be responsible for Jim Crow. You can not be responsible for racism. This is much more a problem for the person exercising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-peck/you-cannot-be-responsible-for-jim-crow-you-can-not-be-responsible-for/) [Raoul Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-peck/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [You know, all is development. The principle is perpetually going on. First, there was nothing, then there was something; then-I forget the next-I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/you-know-all-is-development-the-principle-is-perpetually-going-on/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [I submit my tongue as an instrument of righteousness when I make it bless them that curse me and pray for them who persecute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/i-submit-my-tongue-as-an-instrument-of-righteousness-when-i-make-it/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [She stood looking carefully at the labeled portraits Ursala had put up: Little Crow, Chief of the Santees, Geronimo, last of the Apaches, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-ibbotson/she-stood-looking-carefully-at-the-labeled-portraits-ursala-had-put/) [Eva Ibbotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-ibbotson/) Browse all 426 Crow quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. 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