---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Parker had seen men and women physically…"
description: "\"“Parker had seen men and women physically diminished in this way before, weighed down by suffering. Grief has its own gravity. They”\" — John Connolly"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png"
---

#  Parker had seen men and women physically diminished in…

![“Parker had seen men and women physically diminished in this way before, weighed down by suffering. Grief has its own gravity. They” quote by John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png)

> ““Parker had seen men and women physically diminished in this way before, weighed down by suffering. Grief has its own gravity. They””

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Grief feels like a physical weight that drags people down, diminishing their presence and vitality.

**In simple terms:** Grief can make people feel physically smaller.

Key Takeaway

Acknowledge grief’s weight and seek support.

Themes

grief human vulnerability emotional burden

Mood

somber reflective

Type

emotional literary

When to use this quote

- therapy sessions
- support groups
- personal loss
- caregiving

Key Concepts

psychology existential weight compassion

Questions to Reflect On

- How does acknowledging grief’s weight change coping?
- What supports help lift that weight?

A Different Perspective

Grief’s gravity can be mitigated by community and meaning.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/)

## Related quotes

> [When we feel pain, everything else around us seems weighed down with our suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-we-feel-pain-everything-else-around-us-seems-weighed-down-with/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Deem no man happy until he passes the edo fhis life without suffering grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/deem-no-man-happy-until-he-passes-the-edo-fhis-life-without-suffering/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [“It doesn’t take long, working homicide, to discover that most people suffering from grief can’t answer that question without telling a lie that trivializes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-dilts/it-doesn-t-take-long-working-homicide-to-discover-that-most-people/)

[Tyler Dilts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-dilts/)

> [These days it seems the lyric impulse, so seemingly fragile, comes in for a lot of abuse-or simply a lot of mistrust. What's it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-hampl/these-days-it-seems-the-lyric-impulse-so-seemingly-fragile-comes-in/)

[Patricia Hampl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-hampl/)

> [“...there's the suffering from love and the suffering from grief - either pain permanently scars the soul...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/there-s-the-suffering-from-love-and-the-suffering-from-grief-either/)

[John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/)

> [Deem no man happy until he passes the end of his life without suffering grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/deem-no-man-happy-until-he-passes-the-end-of-his-life-without/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [“She loved your mother', Taliesin said gently. 'This is her farewell.' As he spoke, a chanted melody began inside the chamber, a song without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-miles/she-loved-your-mother-taliesin-said-gently-this-is-her-farewell-as-he/)

[Rosalind Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-miles/)

> [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/)

[Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/)

> [Relationships are never more important than your own self worth and if you don't have that then any relationship is worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/relationships-are-never-more-important-than-your-own-self-worth-and/)

Enhance Dreams

> [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/)

[Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/)

> [“I like men and women who don't fit well in the dominant culture, or, as Alvar de Campos calls them, strangers in this place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-like-men-and-women-who-don-t-fit-well-in-the-dominant-culture-or-as/)

[Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/)

> [I never knew a man who deserved to be thought well of for his morals who had a slight opinion of our Sex in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/i-never-knew-a-man-who-deserved-to-be-thought-well-of-for-his-morals/)

[Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/)

> [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [Hats off to starting a franchise younger than we all did in 'Twilight' and keeping your cool. The 'Harry Potter' men and women had,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellan-lutz/hats-off-to-starting-a-franchise-younger-than-we-all-did-in-twilight/)

[Kellan Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellan-lutz/)

> [“Galton’s gospel of eugenics found fertile soil in Britain, in the intellectual salons of Europe, and in the United States. Beginning in the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-loconte/galton-s-gospel-of-eugenics-found-fertile-soil-in-britain-in-the/)

Joseph Loconte

## More by John Connolly

> [There is sometimes a feeling in crime fiction that good writing gets in the way of story. I have never felt that way. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/there-is-sometimes-a-feeling-in-crime-fiction-that-good-writing-gets/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [He had quite liked the dwarfs. He often had no idea what they were talking about, but for a group of homicidal, class-obsessed small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/he-had-quite-liked-the-dwarfs-he-often-had-no-idea-what-they-were/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [I'm a ghost," said the small figure, then added, a little uncertainly, "Boo?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/i-m-a-ghost-said-the-small-figure-then-added-a-little-uncertainly-boo/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“There is a price to be paid for everything, and it is a good idea to find out that price before you make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/there-is-a-price-to-be-paid-for-everything-and-it-is-a-good-idea-to/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“She was a round, curvy woman who, for Parker, brought to mind a figure assembled from a selection of soft fruits. Aside”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/she-was-a-round-curvy-woman-who-for-parker-brought-to-mind-a-figure/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“Prepare for the worst and you won’t be disappointed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/prepare-for-the-worst-and-you-won-t-be-disappointed/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“When Louis relaxed, it was an indication that a threat was at hand and he was preparing to act, as when an archer releases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/when-louis-relaxed-it-was-an-indication-that-a-threat-was-at-hand-and/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“The presence in the living room called to her, summoning her in a hundred voices and none, a great dissonant harmony alien yet familiar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/the-presence-in-the-living-room-called-to-her-summoning-her-in-a/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“Warraner would rather have been the king of nothing than the prince of something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/warraner-would-rather-have-been-the-king-of-nothing-than-the-prince/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“had been like wandering into the wrong carnival sideshow, the kind that left one feeling sick and slightly soiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/had-been-like-wandering-into-the-wrong-carnival-sideshow-the-kind/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“think you just like tethering goats.” “Well, be sure to tell me when your rope begins”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/think-you-just-like-tethering-goats-well-be-sure-to-tell-me-when-your/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“David could tell, by looking at her face as she read, whether or not the story contained in the book was living inside her,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/david-could-tell-by-looking-at-her-face-as-she-read-whether-or-not/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“Before she came ill, David's mother would often tell him that stories were alive. They weren't alive in the way that people were alive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/before-she-came-ill-david-s-mother-would-often-tell-him-that-stories/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [“Stories wanted to be read, David's mother would whisper. They needed it. It was the reason they forced themselves from their world into ours.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/stories-wanted-to-be-read-david-s-mother-would-whisper-they-needed-it/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

> [She was plump, with dyed red hair and a face so caked with cosmetics that the floor of the Amazon jungle probably saw more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/she-was-plump-with-dyed-red-hair-and-a-face-so-caked-with-cosmetics/)

[John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

[Explore all 232 John Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/)

## 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": "“Parker had seen men and women physically diminished in this way before, weighed down by suffering. Grief has its own gravity. They”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John Connolly"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically-diminished-in-this-way/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Grief"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically-diminished-in-this-way/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c80/john-connolly-1479_grief_parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically_339047.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Parker had seen men and women physically diminished in this way before, weighed down by suffering. Grief has…” — John Connolly",
                "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": "John Connolly",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Parker had seen men and women...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically-diminished-in-this-way/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/parker-had-seen-men-and-women-physically-diminished-in-this-way/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
