--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is there to do when people die…" description: "\"What is there to do when people die - people so dear and rare - but bring them back by remembering?\" — May Sarton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg" --- # What is there to do when people die - people so dear and… ![“What is there to do when people die - people so dear and rare - but bring them back by remembering?” quote by May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg) > “What is there to do when people die - people so dear and rare - but bring them back by remembering?” [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Remembering the departed keeps their spirit alive and offers comfort to the living. **In simple terms:** Memory preserves love after loss. Key Takeaway Honor the deceased by recalling shared moments. Themes grief memory comfort Mood somber reflective Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - funeral services - personal reflection - anniversary memorials Key Concepts psychology mourning legacy Questions to Reflect On - How can you keep a loved one's influence active in your life? - What rituals help you process loss? A Different Perspective Memory alone cannot replace the presence of the loved one. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grieving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grieving/) [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) ## Related quotes > [Though I do not believe in the order of things, still the sticky little leaves that come out in the spring are dear to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/though-i-do-not-believe-in-the-order-of-things-still-the-sticky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People only call you 'my dear' when they are irritated with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-kerr/people-only-call-you-my-dear-when-they-are-irritated-with-you/) [Jean Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-kerr/) > [People live, People die, People Laugh, People Cry, Some give up, Some try, Some say Hi, Some say bye, Others may forget YOU, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-live-people-die-people-laugh-people-cry-some-give-up-some-try/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People vanish, people die. People laugh and people cry. Some give up, some will try. Some say hi, while some say bye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-vanish-people-die-people-laugh-and-people-cry-some-give-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Every night, in every Coldtown, people die. People are fragile. They die of mistakes, of overdoses, of sickness. But mostly they die of Death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/every-night-in-every-coldtown-people-die-people-are-fragile-they-die/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [For a culture that has such a problem with death, we seem to deal with it in a quite bizarre way. We see people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sheen/for-a-culture-that-has-such-a-problem-with-death-we-seem-to-deal-with/) [Michael Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sheen/) > [People die and people cry people want me dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/people-die-and-people-cry-people-want-me-dead/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [People live People die People laugh People cry Some give up Some still try Some say hi While some say bye Others may forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wol/people-live-people-die-people-laugh-people-cry-some-give-up-some/) Lil Wol > [So from this time of peak every people or every organization that goes against the Unification Church will gradually come down or drastically come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/so-from-this-time-of-peak-every-people-or-every-organization-that/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) > [“Remembering our loved ones is breathing life into their fading images, that we might once more see their faces and pass along a tearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/remembering-our-loved-ones-is-breathing-life-into-their-fading-images/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [It is not merely that people must die and people must suffer, if not here, then there. But what is dreadful is that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/it-is-not-merely-that-people-must-die-and-people-must-suffer-if-not/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [Christ did not die to give people a career but to save the lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhard-bonnke/christ-did-not-die-to-give-people-a-career-but-to-save-the-lost/) [Reinhard Bonnke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhard-bonnke/) > [There is something very unsettling about being with someone when they die. People say it's peaceful. It's not peaceful. It's the most personal thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/there-is-something-very-unsettling-about-being-with-someone-when-they/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [“Nobody wants to die! So why do people let themselves go? Why kill yourself off? Stop and think, get fit and strong! Even a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bronson/nobody-wants-to-die-so-why-do-people-let-themselves-go-why-kill/) [Charles Bronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bronson/) > [You're a musician and you live and die by people responding to your music. It's a business just like anything else and if people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-martel/you-re-a-musician-and-you-live-and-die-by-people-responding-to-your/) [Marc Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-martel/) ## More by May Sarton > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [People who cannot feel punish those who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/people-who-cannot-feel-punish-those-who-do/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/one-must-think-like-a-hero-to-behave-like-a-merely-decent-human-being/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Real joy is becoming exceedingly rare among artists of any kind. And I have an idea that those who can and do communicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/real-joy-is-becoming-exceedingly-rare-among-artists-of-any-kind-and-i/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For to be desperate is to discover strength. / We die of comfort and by conflict live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-to-be-desperate-is-to-discover-strength-we-die-of-comfort-and-by/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I see you with that shell Held to your sensitive abstracted ear, Hunting the ocean’s rumor till you hear it well, Until you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-see-you-with-that-shell-held-to-your-sensitive-abstracted-ear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [There is a wilder solitude in winter When every sense is pricked alive and keen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/there-is-a-wilder-solitude-in-winter-when-every-sense-is-pricked/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Why is it that people who cannot show feeling presume that that is a strength and not a weakness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/why-is-it-that-people-who-cannot-show-feeling-presume-that-that-is-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Innocence is not pure so much as pleased, Always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/innocence-is-not-pure-so-much-as-pleased-always-expectant-bright-eyed/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For art is order, but it is born out of the chaos of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-art-is-order-but-it-is-born-out-of-the-chaos-of-life/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) [Explore all 336 May Sarton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## More Dear quotes > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [O lands! O all so dear to me - what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/o-lands-o-all-so-dear-to-me-what-you-are-i-become-part-of-that/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Most beautiful is the sight of those near and dear to us when our original kinship makes us of one mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/most-beautiful-is-the-sight-of-those-near-and-dear-to-us-when-our/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [Oh, dear Hazel.” Aphrodite folded her fan. “Such optimism, yet you have heartrending days ahead of you. Of course war is coming. Love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/oh-dear-hazel-aphrodite-folded-her-fan-such-optimism-yet-you-have/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [You may be sure, dear Crito, that inaccurate language is not only in itself a mistake: it implants evil in men's souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/you-may-be-sure-dear-crito-that-inaccurate-language-is-not-only-in/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/you-re-thinking-about-something-my-dear-and-that-makes-you-forget-to/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [My favorite performance would definitely be "Toxic," which was my blind audition song. It was the start of it all and it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/my-favorite-performance-would-definitely-be-toxic-which-was-my-blind/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [Dear God...thank you for bein there when no one else was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dear-god-thank-you-for-bein-there-when-no-one-else-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It must be that I am dreaming, and that I shall awaken in a moment to see that awful knife descending toward my heart-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/it-must-be-that-i-am-dreaming-and-that-i-shall-awaken-in-a-moment-to/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Dear John, tell me everything. Write it all down, that way, we’ll be with each other all the time, even if we’re not with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/dear-john-tell-me-everything-write-it-all-down-that-way-we-ll-be-with/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > ['Madea' is a Southern term. It's short for 'mother dear.' So there are a lot of Madeas out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-perry/madea-is-a-southern-term-it-s-short-for-mother-dear-so-there-are-a/) [Tyler Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-perry/) > [There was a man named Robert Dear who in court said he was a warrior for the babies, whose ex-wife talked about his Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hayes/there-was-a-man-named-robert-dear-who-in-court-said-he-was-a-warrior/) [Chris Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hayes/) > [Dear God, thanks for being there when no one else was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myah/dear-god-thanks-for-being-there-when-no-one-else-was/) [Myah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myah/) Browse all 2,620 Dear quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is there to do when people die - people so dear and rare - but bring them back by remembering?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "May Sarton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-people-so-dear-and-rare-but-bring/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-people-so-dear-and-rare-but-bring/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b43/may-sarton-897_dear_what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-peop_1955673.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is there to do when people die - people so dear and rare - but bring them back by remembering?” — May Sarton", "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": "May Sarton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What is there to do when...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-people-so-dear-and-rare-but-bring/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/what-is-there-to-do-when-people-die-people-so-dear-and-rare-but-bring/#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 } } ] } ```