--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sorrows we imagine are more profound…" description: "\"The sorrows we imagine are more profound and inconsolable than real life leaves us time for.\" — Nan Fairbrother" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg" --- # The sorrows we imagine are more profound and inconsolable… ![“The sorrows we imagine are more profound and inconsolable than real life leaves us time for.” quote by Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg) > “The sorrows we imagine are more profound and inconsolable than real life leaves us time for.” [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagined sorrows feel deeper and more endless than real hardships that time permits. **In simple terms:** Imagined pains seem larger than actual problems. Key Takeaway Recognize real limits, not imagined ones. Themes perception pain time reality Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health - stress management Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What real challenges can you address now? - How does imagination amplify pain? A Different Perspective Imagined sorrows can distract from actionable solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrows/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-all-very-well-to-read-about-sorrows-and-imagine-yourself-living/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The sorrows of children are profound and unsuspected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-sorrows-of-children-are-profound-and-unsuspected/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [Neither my place, nor aught I heard of business, Hath raised me from my bed; nor doth the general care Take hold on me;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/neither-my-place-nor-aught-i-heard-of-business-hath-raised-me-from-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Genuine sorrows are very tranquil in appearance in the deep bed they have dug for themselves. But, seeming to slumber, they corrode the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/genuine-sorrows-are-very-tranquil-in-appearance-in-the-deep-bed-they/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [To become a man was something, but to become a man of sorrows was far more; to bleed, and die, and suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/to-become-a-man-was-something-but-to-become-a-man-of-sorrows-was-far/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [All sorrows can be borne if you can put them into a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/all-sorrows-can-be-borne-if-you-can-put-them-into-a-story/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [Oh, how miserable it is to have no one to share your sorrows and joys, and, when your heart is heavy, to have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/oh-how-miserable-it-is-to-have-no-one-to-share-your-sorrows-and-joys/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [“is it not written, that those who make haste to be rich, pierce themselves through with many sorrows?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/is-it-not-written-that-those-who-make-haste-to-be-rich-pierce/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [Most Christians would rather be happy than feel the wounds of other peoples' sorrows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/most-christians-would-rather-be-happy-than-feel-the-wounds-of-other/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“The only thing to do with one's old sorrows is to tuck them up neatly in their shroud and turn one's face away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/the-only-thing-to-do-with-one-s-old-sorrows-is-to-tuck-them-up-neatly/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [While some get tired out of laughing, some others cant find time even to mourn (over their sorrows).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/while-some-get-tired-out-of-laughing-some-others-cant-find-time-even/) Mak\_786 > [Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/their-sorrows-shall-be-multiplied-that-hasten-after-another-god-their/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [The longer you live, the more mistakes you make. And the more sorrows you carry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/the-longer-you-live-the-more-mistakes-you-make-and-the-more-sorrows/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [“The simple trill of her laugh has not declined over the years; if anything it's been buffeted by her endless sorrows and disappointments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/the-simple-trill-of-her-laugh-has-not-declined-over-the-years-if/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [“The loves and sorrows that are great are destroyed by their own plentitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-loves-and-sorrows-that-are-great-are-destroyed-by-their-own/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Nan Fairbrother > [Most of us are experts at solving other people's problems, but we generally solve them in terms of our own and the advice we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/most-of-us-are-experts-at-solving-other-people-s-problems-but-we/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [the large black slugs ... come out at dusk. Enormous slugs. As big as crocodiles. So huge we need a gun to shoot them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-large-black-slugs-come-out-at-dusk-enormous-slugs-as-big-as/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [Summer weather, like being in love,is a philosopher's stone which turns our ordinary days to gold. But not the whole day ... For it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/summer-weather-like-being-in-love-is-a-philosopher-s-stone-which/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [children are not undeveloped versions of adult people: they are a different race of beings: they are children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/children-are-not-undeveloped-versions-of-adult-people-they-are-a/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [The sorrows of children are profound and unsuspected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-sorrows-of-children-are-profound-and-unsuspected/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [the urgent crowds out the essential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-urgent-crowds-out-the-essential/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [leisure is an attitude of mind, not simply remission of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/leisure-is-an-attitude-of-mind-not-simply-remission-of-work/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [... garden books are quite unconscious that besides telling us how to turn our patch of earth into a garden, they are also expressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/garden-books-are-quite-unconscious-that-besides-telling-us-how-to/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [We envy people we love for being always in their own loved company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/we-envy-people-we-love-for-being-always-in-their-own-loved-company/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [It is always one of the tragedies of any relationship, even between people sensitive to each other's moods, that the moments of emotion so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/it-is-always-one-of-the-tragedies-of-any-relationship-even-between/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [As every real estate agent knows, a poor house in good surroundings will sell for a higher price than a better house in poor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/as-every-real-estate-agent-knows-a-poor-house-in-good-surroundings/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [I have reached the stage now where luxury is not in fine possessions but in carefree possessions, and the greatest luxury of all would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/i-have-reached-the-stage-now-where-luxury-is-not-in-fine-possessions/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [We are perverse creatures and never satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/we-are-perverse-creatures-and-never-satisfied/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [We love those we are happy with. We do. For how else can we know we love them, or how else define loving?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/we-love-those-we-are-happy-with-we-do-for-how-else-can-we-know-we/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) > [There is a stage with people we love when we are no longer separate from them, but so close in sympathy that we live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/there-is-a-stage-with-people-we-love-when-we-are-no-longer-separate/) [Nan Fairbrother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) [Explore all 29 Nan Fairbrother quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/) ## 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. 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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": "The sorrows we imagine are more profound and inconsolable than real life leaves us time for.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nan Fairbrother" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound-and-inconsolable-than-real/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound-and-inconsolable-than-real/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/nan-fairbrother-21248_grief_the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound_2685338.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The sorrows we imagine are more profound and inconsolable than real life leaves us time for.” — Nan Fairbrother", "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": "Nan Fairbrother", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-fairbrother/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The sorrows we imagine are more...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound-and-inconsolable-than-real/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-fairbrother/the-sorrows-we-imagine-are-more-profound-and-inconsolable-than-real/#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 } } ] } ```