--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What she did not know, and would never…" description: "\"“What she did not know, and would never have believed, was that though her soul seemed to have been grown over with an impenetrable layer of mould, som..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png" --- # What she did not know, and would never have believed, was… ![“What she did not know, and would never have believed, was that though her soul seemed to have been grown over with an impenetrable layer of mould, some delicate blades of grass, young and tender, were already pushing their way upwards, destined to take root and send out living shoots so…” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png) > ““What she did not know, and would never have believed, was that though her soul seemed to have been grown over with an impenetrable layer of mould, some delicate blades of grass, young and tender, were already pushing their way upwards, destined to take root and send out living shoots so effectively that her all-consuming grief would soon be lost and forgotten. The wound was healing from inside.”” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a soul burdened by grief as being encased in mold, yet new, tender growth emerges from within, gradually healing the wound from the inside out. **In simple terms:** Grief can be healed by inner renewal. Key Takeaway Allow inner growth to heal pain. Themes resilience healing transformation inner strength growth Mood hopeful reflective Type metaphorical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - personal loss - creative expression Key Concepts psychology spirituality metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What inner strengths can you nurture during grief? - How does recognizing small growth change your healing process? A Different Perspective Healing may be slow and not linear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) ## Related quotes > [My own path towards wellness has been a long and dynamic one. It's taught me that healing from the inside out takes time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carre-otis/my-own-path-towards-wellness-has-been-a-long-and-dynamic-one-it-s/) [Carre Otis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carre-otis/) > [I didn't know what I was getting into when I went vegan, but so many things changed. I shed 30 pounds. I felt better.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mya/i-didn-t-know-what-i-was-getting-into-when-i-went-vegan-but-so-many/) [Mya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mya/) > [Healing is an inside job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-j-palmer/healing-is-an-inside-job/) [B. J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-j-palmer/) > [“Be Still My Heart while God is Healing me inside”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-bundalian-stephen/be-still-my-heart-while-god-is-healing-me-inside/) Marcia Bundalian-Stephen > [Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-wounds-are-too-deep-to-heal-or-too-deep-to-heal-quickly-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Time, time will heal the wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/time-time-will-heal-the-wound/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Somewhere between love and pain was the feeling of a family that was missing one of its founding members.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-collier/somewhere-between-love-and-pain-was-the-feeling-of-a-family-that-was/) [Molly Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-collier/) > [“The best way to make a line appear shorter without touching it is to draw a longer line next to it. It works with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merlin-franco/the-best-way-to-make-a-line-appear-shorter-without-touching-it-is-to/) [Merlin Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merlin-franco/) > [“Grief taught me that healing is not about one big moment of clarity. It is about tiny practices, repeated daily, until they start to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stiverson/grief-taught-me-that-healing-is-not-about-one-big-moment-of-clarity/) Christina Stiverson > [“This state of grief was something I now understood. It's something that walks with you every day. Would there be sunny days again? There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/this-state-of-grief-was-something-i-now-understood-it-s-something/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“I was walking along one day and smacked into this wall called hope deferred and depression and...grief. And it wouldn't budge. After some time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-nikole/i-was-walking-along-one-day-and-smacked-into-this-wall-called-hope/) [Ashley Nikole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-nikole/) > [“Get cozy with your sorrow, Cuddle with your grief. Float with your fears, And melt within your anger. Stroll through your frustrations, Your disappointments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nz-kaminsky/get-cozy-with-your-sorrow-cuddle-with-your-grief-float-with-your/) [NZ Kaminsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nz-kaminsky/) > [“I pulled a dirty black sweatshirt from the laundry basket on my son’s floor and tried to drink in his scent, to savor the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-ramsey/i-pulled-a-dirty-black-sweatshirt-from-the-laundry-basket-on-my-son-s/) [Shelley Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-ramsey/) > [“The moment a child leaves us, a parent’s heart feels different. Medically, this condition is called “broken heart syndrome,” but grieving parents knew this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/the-moment-a-child-leaves-us-a-parent-s-heart-feels-different/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“As long as it takes, I will lovingly labor to put together the timeless souvenirs of our life together. I cling to the phot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/as-long-as-it-takes-i-will-lovingly-labor-to-put-together-the/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Grief-inspirational quotes > [“As long as it takes, I will lovingly labor to put together the timeless souvenirs of our life together. I cling to the phot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/as-long-as-it-takes-i-will-lovingly-labor-to-put-together-the/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“The moment a child leaves us, a parent’s heart feels different. Medically, this condition is called “broken heart syndrome,” but grieving parents knew this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/the-moment-a-child-leaves-us-a-parent-s-heart-feels-different/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“I pulled a dirty black sweatshirt from the laundry basket on my son’s floor and tried to drink in his scent, to savor the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-ramsey/i-pulled-a-dirty-black-sweatshirt-from-the-laundry-basket-on-my-son-s/) [Shelley Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-ramsey/) > [“Get cozy with your sorrow, Cuddle with your grief. Float with your fears, And melt within your anger. Stroll through your frustrations, Your disappointments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nz-kaminsky/get-cozy-with-your-sorrow-cuddle-with-your-grief-float-with-your/) [NZ Kaminsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nz-kaminsky/) > [“I was walking along one day and smacked into this wall called hope deferred and depression and...grief. And it wouldn't budge. After some time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-nikole/i-was-walking-along-one-day-and-smacked-into-this-wall-called-hope/) [Ashley Nikole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-nikole/) > [“This state of grief was something I now understood. It's something that walks with you every day. Would there be sunny days again? There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/this-state-of-grief-was-something-i-now-understood-it-s-something/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“Grief taught me that healing is not about one big moment of clarity. It is about tiny practices, repeated daily, until they start to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stiverson/grief-taught-me-that-healing-is-not-about-one-big-moment-of-clarity/) Christina Stiverson > [“The best way to make a line appear shorter without touching it is to draw a longer line next to it. It works with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merlin-franco/the-best-way-to-make-a-line-appear-shorter-without-touching-it-is-to/) [Merlin Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merlin-franco/) > [“Somewhere between love and pain was the feeling of a family that was missing one of its founding members.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-collier/somewhere-between-love-and-pain-was-the-feeling-of-a-family-that-was/) [Molly Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-collier/) > [“I thought bravery had deserted me, but it hadn't. It had been swallowed by grief, and now I was slowly emerging from that pool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-thought-bravery-had-deserted-me-but-it-hadn-t-it-had-been-swallowed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“My experience is that God will meet us anywhere. Grieving badly and under the covers? He's there. Sitting at the cemetery, wishing it were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-ramsey/my-experience-is-that-god-will-meet-us-anywhere-grieving-badly-and/) [Shelley Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-ramsey/) > [“Time is ungovernable, but grief presents us with a choice: what do we do with the savage energies of bereavement? What do we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonella-gambotto-burke/time-is-ungovernable-but-grief-presents-us-with-a-choice-what-do-we/) [Antonella Gambotto-Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonella-gambotto-burke/) > [“The loneliest time after a tragedy is the week or month when everyone goes home, and you new normal begins. The silence feels deafening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/the-loneliest-time-after-a-tragedy-is-the-week-or-month-when-everyone/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“You will grieve for a lifetime. Each person should be allowed to grieve in his or her own way and time. Some prefer the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-k-mccarty/you-will-grieve-for-a-lifetime-each-person-should-be-allowed-to/) [Pam K. McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-k-mccarty/) > [“He was footprints in the snow. Not all loves are meant to last. Some are meant to grace you briefly, before fading, somehow leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-simon-gunn/he-was-footprints-in-the-snow-not-all-loves-are-meant-to-last-some/) [Jacqueline Simon Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-simon-gunn/) Browse all 52 Grief-inspirational quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What she did not know, and would never have believed, was that though her soul seemed to have been grown over with an impenetrable layer of mould, some delicate blades of grass, young and tender, were already pushing their way upwards, destined to take root and send out living shoots so effectively that her all-consuming grief would soon be lost and forgotten. The wound was healing from inside.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-have-believed-was-that-though/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief-inspirational" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-have-believed-was-that-though/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e88/leo-tolstoy-55_grief-inspirational_what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-ha_1361936.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What she did not know, and would never have believed, was that though her soul seemed to have been grown…” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“What she did not know, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-have-believed-was-that-though/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/what-she-did-not-know-and-would-never-have-believed-was-that-though/#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 } } ] } ```