--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Grief said C.S. Lewis is like \"a winding…" description: "\"“Grief said C.S. Lewis is like \"a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.\" This is so. The lessons that come from grief come ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kay-redfield-jamison-1826_death_grief-said-c-s-lewis-is-like-a-winding-v_1700480.jpg" --- # Grief said C.S. Lewis is like "a winding valley where any… ![“Grief said C.S. Lewis is like "a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape." This is so. The lessons that come from grief come from its unexpected moves, from its shifting views of what had gone before and what is yet to come. Pain brought so often into one's consciousness…” quote by Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kay-redfield-jamison-1826_death_grief-said-c-s-lewis-is-like-a-winding-v_1700480.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kay-redfield-jamison-1826_death_grief-said-c-s-lewis-is-like-a-winding-v_1700480.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/kay-redfield-jamison-1826_death_grief-said-c-s-lewis-is-like-a-winding-v_1700480.jpg) > ““Grief said C.S. Lewis is like "a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape." This is so. The lessons that come from grief come from its unexpected moves, from its shifting views of what had gone before and what is yet to come. Pain brought so often into one's consciousness cannot maintain the same capacity to wound. Grief, however creates strange sensitivity. The world is too intense to tolerate: a veil, a drink, another anaesthetic is required to blot out the ache of what remains. One sees too much and feels it, as Robert Lowell put it, "with one skin-layer missing." Grief conspires to ensure that it will in time wear itself out. Unlike depression, it acts to preserve the self. Depression is malignant, indiscriminately destructive. Grief may bear resemblance to depression, but it is a distant kinship. In Grief, death occasions the pain. In depression, death is the solution to the pain. In Grief, one feels the absence of a life, not life itself. In depression, it is otherwise one cannot access the beat of life!”” [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grief reshapes perception, creating heightened sensitivity and a fleeting intensity that eventually wanes, unlike depression which erodes self‑preservation. **In simple terms:** Grief makes the world feel too intense, but it eventually fades. Key Takeaway Accept grief’s intensity and allow it to pass. Themes grief psychology emotional resilience Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - counseling - personal loss - creative writing - support groups Key Concepts sensitivity transience self‑preservation Questions to Reflect On - How does grief change your view of everyday life? - What practices help you navigate its intensity? A Different Perspective Grief can become overwhelming and may need external support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) ## Related quotes > [“But then I suppose I’ve never really lost anyone. How would I know what that kind of grief feels like?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-hawkins/but-then-i-suppose-i-ve-never-really-lost-anyone-how-would-i-know/) [Paula Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-hawkins/) > [I think I am beginning to understand why grief feels like suspense. 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A heart does not actually break, though sometimes you chest aches as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/you-cannot-die-from-grief-though-it-feels-like-you-can-a-heart-does/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [I talk about things like how to lose without losing identity. All loss and grief feels like when you transition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-white/i-talk-about-things-like-how-to-lose-without-losing-identity-all-loss/) [Paula White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-white/) > [“And grief still feels like fear. Perhaps, more strictly, like suspense. Or like waiting; just hanging about waiting for something to happen. It gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/and-grief-still-feels-like-fear-perhaps-more-strictly-like-suspense/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [People talk about the pain of grief, but I don't know what they mean. 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We lie in silence until darkness falls, and then, haltingly, she begins to talk...She speaks without need or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/afterward-i-curl-around-her-we-lie-in-silence-until-darkness-falls/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [And I know you've spent a lifetime trying to protect me from the staggering pain of grief that comes from losing the things and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-noel/and-i-know-you-ve-spent-a-lifetime-trying-to-protect-me-from-the/) [Alyson Noel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-noel/) > [What if all possible pain was only the grief of truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-shaughnessy/what-if-all-possible-pain-was-only-the-grief-of-truth/) [Brenda Shaughnessy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-shaughnessy/) > [To me, death is dark, pain, grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/to-me-death-is-dark-pain-grief/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [“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/) ## More by Kay Redfield Jamison > [ “...even though \[my psychiatrist\] understood mor than anyone how much I felt I was losing--in energy, vivacity, and originality--by taking medication, he never was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/even-though-my-psychiatrist-understood-mor-than-anyone-how-much-i/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [When people are suicidal, their thinking is paralyzed, their options appear spare or nonexistent, their mood is despairing, and hopelessness permeates their entire mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/when-people-are-suicidal-their-thinking-is-paralyzed-their-options/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. 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It quickly came down to a choice between seeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/i-decided-early-in-graduate-school-that-i-needed-to-do-something/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [When I'm talking about depression, I'm talking about the more severe forms of depression, and I think that conceptualising as a form of grief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/when-i-m-talking-about-depression-i-m-talking-about-the-more-severe/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [An ardent temperament makes one very vulnerable to dreamkillers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/an-ardent-temperament-makes-one-very-vulnerable-to-dreamkillers/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [the intensity, glory, and absolute assuredness if my mind's flight made it very difficult for me to believe once i was better, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/the-intensity-glory-and-absolute-assuredness-if-my-mind-s-flight-made/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [I wish I could explain it so someone could understand it. 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Powers > [“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/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. 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Pain brought so often into one's consciousness cannot maintain the same capacity to wound. Grief, however creates strange sensitivity. The world is too intense to tolerate: a veil, a drink, another anaesthetic is required to blot out the ache of what remains. One sees too much and feels it, as Robert Lowell put it, \"with one skin-layer missing.\" Grief conspires to ensure that it will in time wear itself out. Unlike depression, it acts to preserve the self. Depression is malignant, indiscriminately destructive. Grief may bear resemblance to depression, but it is a distant kinship. In Grief, death occasions the pain. In depression, death is the solution to the pain. In Grief, one feels the absence of a life, not life itself. 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