--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer." description: "\"Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer.\" — Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png" --- # Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer. ![“Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer.” quote by Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png) > “Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer.” [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suffering can become a source of reverence and spiritual depth. **In simple terms:** Pain can be sacred. Key Takeaway Embrace suffering as a path to meaning. Themes suffering spirituality growth Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal loss - grief healing - spiritual practice - rituals Key Concepts transcendence redemption meaning Questions to Reflect On - How can pain be transformed into reverence? - What practices turn suffering into growth? A Different Perspective Suffering does not always lead to sacredness; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-sorrow-1376568/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Makes Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/makes-sacred-372017/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Sacred Sufferer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred-sufferer-5740067/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrow Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-makes-1123939/) [Sufferers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sufferers/) ## Related quotes > [Human life is created in God's image, and that makes it sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-s-smith/human-life-is-created-in-god-s-image-and-that-makes-it-sacred/) [Colin S. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-s-smith/) > [Behind every trial and sorrow that He makes us shoulder, God has a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/behind-every-trial-and-sorrow-that-he-makes-us-shoulder-god-has-a/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Sorrow makes us all children again - destroys all differences of intellect. The wisest know nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/sorrow-makes-us-all-children-again-destroys-all-differences-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Sorrow makes us very good or very bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/sorrow-makes-us-very-good-or-very-bad/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [SORROW MAKES A MAN OLD BEFORE HIS TIME](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail/sorrow-makes-a-man-old-before-his-time/) [Ismail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail/) > [Tis held that sorrow makes us wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/tis-held-that-sorrow-makes-us-wise/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [Sorrow makes us all children again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/sorrow-makes-us-all-children-again/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Only pain makes it grow stronger. One sorrow makes it kind. Contentment makes it wither, and joy seems to build walls around it. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/only-pain-makes-it-grow-stronger-one-sorrow-makes-it-kind-contentment/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Sorrow makes us all children again.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson said that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-pitts-jr/sorrow-makes-us-all-children-again-ralph-waldo-emerson-said-that/) [Leonard Pitts Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-pitts-jr/) > [Sorrow makes for sincerity, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/sorrow-makes-for-sincerity-i-think/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Sorrow is God's plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If we had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lettie-cowman/sorrow-is-god-s-plowshare-that-turns-up-and-subsoils-the-depths-of/) [Lettie Cowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lettie-cowman/) > [Sorrow makes men sincere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/sorrow-makes-men-sincere/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Sorrow makes an ugly face odious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/sorrow-makes-an-ugly-face-odious/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [Yet there be certain times in a young man’s life, when, through great sorrow or sin, all the boy in him is burnt and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/yet-there-be-certain-times-in-a-young-man-s-life-when-through-great/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don’t get to choose our own hearts. We can’t make ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-great-sorrow-and-one-that-i-am-only-beginning-to-understand-we-don/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## More by Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton > [Words, however, are things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/words-however-are-things/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [There's a moment when all would go smooth and even, If only the dead could find out when To come back, and be forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/there-s-a-moment-when-all-would-go-smooth-and-even-if-only-the-dead/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [We gain justice, judgment, with years, or else years are in vain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/we-gain-justice-judgment-with-years-or-else-years-are-in-vain/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [We are our own fates.- Our deeds are our own doomsmen.- Man's life was made not for creeds but actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/we-are-our-own-fates-our-deeds-are-our-own-doomsmen-man-s-life-was/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [Sorrows humanize our race; tears are the showers that fertilize the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/sorrows-humanize-our-race-tears-are-the-showers-that-fertilize-the/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [The world is a nettle; disturb it, it stings. Grasp it firmly, it stings not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/the-world-is-a-nettle-disturb-it-it-stings-grasp-it-firmly-it-stings/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [There is a pleasure that is born of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/there-is-a-pleasure-that-is-born-of-pain/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [When time is flown, how it fled It is better neither to ask nor tell, Leave the dead moments to bury their dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/when-time-is-flown-how-it-fled-it-is-better-neither-to-ask-nor-tell/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [Art is Nature made by Man / To Man the interpreter of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/art-is-nature-made-by-man-to-man-the-interpreter-of-god/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [No life can be pure in its purpose, and strong in its strife, and all life not be purer and stronger thereby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/no-life-can-be-pure-in-its-purpose-and-strong-in-its-strife-and-all/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [We are but as the instrument of Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/we-are-but-as-the-instrument-of-heaven/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [Life hath set No landmarks before us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/life-hath-set-no-landmarks-before-us/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [Who knows nothing base, Fears nothing known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/who-knows-nothing-base-fears-nothing-known/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [No true love there can be without Its dread penalty--jealousy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/no-true-love-there-can-be-without-its-dread-penalty-jealousy/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [The things which must be must be for the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/the-things-which-must-be-must-be-for-the-best/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) [Explore all 39 Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) ## 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": "Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl_grief_great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer-1_1541193.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer.” — Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton", "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": "Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Great sorrow makes sacred the sufferer.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/great-sorrow-makes-sacred-the-sufferer/#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 } } ] } ```