--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History says, 'Don't hope on this side of…" description: "\"History says, 'Don't hope on this side of the grave.'\" — Seamus Heaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png" --- # History says, 'Don't hope on this side of the grave.' ![“History says, 'Don't hope on this side of the grave.'” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png) > “History says, 'Don't hope on this side of the grave.'” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One should not cling to the dead; hope lies beyond mourning. **In simple terms:** Don’t hope on the dead side. Key Takeaway Focus on living, not lingering on loss. Themes mortality hope acceptance Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - grief counseling - life planning - spiritual practice - creative writing Key Concepts philosophical psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor the past while moving forward? - What practices help you let go? A Different Perspective Hope may be needed for healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ## Related quotes > [History says, Don’t hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave-but-then-once-in-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“History says, Don't hope/On this side of the grave/But then, once in a lifetime/The longest-for tidal wave of justice can rise up/And hope and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave-but-then-once-in-a-2/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [''History says, don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave-but-then-once-in-a-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don't give up hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miyuki-miyabe/don-t-give-up-hope/) [Miyuki Miyabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miyuki-miyabe/) > [“My answer is nope, so don’t even hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/my-answer-is-nope-so-don-t-even-hope/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“Don’t ever give up hope. Sometimes it’s all we have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-banks/don-t-ever-give-up-hope-sometimes-it-s-all-we-have/) [Maya Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-banks/) > [Don't give me a hope, give me a chance and I will take it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-give-me-a-hope-give-me-a-chance-and-i-will-take-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If God has said it He will do it ...don't give up hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-god-has-said-it-he-will-do-it-don-t-give-up-hope/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't Give Up, Give Hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-give-up-give-hope/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've said many times that I'm not one of those people who check statistics, follows history, and says, 'If I do this, what will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-ann-fraser-pryce/i-ve-said-many-times-that-i-m-not-one-of-those-people-who-check/) [Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-ann-fraser-pryce/) > [History never really says goodbye. History says, 'See you later.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/history-never-really-says-goodbye-history-says-see-you-later/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [Don't abandon what makes you who you are. Don't give up hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-franklin/don-t-abandon-what-makes-you-who-you-are-don-t-give-up-hope/) [DeVon Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-franklin/) > [“Don't give up hope...Don't ever give up hope!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/don-t-give-up-hope-don-t-ever-give-up-hope/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [“if you don't have hope, you may as well croak!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-o-dell/if-you-don-t-have-hope-you-may-as-well-croak/) Kathryn O'Dell > [“I am not sure about anything. But if we don’t have hope, we don’t have anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-harmel/i-am-not-sure-about-anything-but-if-we-don-t-have-hope-we-don-t-have/) [Kristin Harmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-harmel/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More Grave quotes > [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [“If Abraham Lincoln were alive now, he'd roll over in his grave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-ford/if-abraham-lincoln-were-alive-now-he-d-roll-over-in-his-grave/) [Gerald Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-ford/) > [Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/leisure-without-study-is-death-and-the-grave-of-a-living-man/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“I've never written a quote I feel would be suitable for my gravestone. Wouldn't it be ironic if it were this one? Oh, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/i-ve-never-written-a-quote-i-feel-would-be-suitable-for-my-gravestone/) [Ryan Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-lilly/) > [Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/man-is-a-noble-animal-splendid-in-ashes-and-pompous-in-the-grave/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [That's wisdom you can take to the grave, and dig up when you need it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/that-s-wisdom-you-can-take-to-the-grave-and-dig-up-when-you-need-it/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [You can run from the grave, but you can't hide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/you-can-run-from-the-grave-but-you-can-t-hide/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [I always thought I'd like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph, and no name. Well, actually, I'd like it to say 'figment.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-always-thought-i-d-like-my-own-tombstone-to-be-blank-no-epitaph-and/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [If you get yourself killed, I'll find your grave and spit on it," she threatened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-garwood/if-you-get-yourself-killed-i-ll-find-your-grave-and-spit-on-it-she/) [Julie Garwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-garwood/) > [“Some people die and you realize that the only mark they left on earth are the tomb stones under which they lie. The impacts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/some-people-die-and-you-realize-that-the-only-mark-they-left-on-earth/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [The job of the government - and my responsibility - is to help people live healthier lives. The framework is about giving local authorities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lansley/the-job-of-the-government-and-my-responsibility-is-to-help-people/) [Andrew Lansley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lansley/) > [“Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus; and we petty men Walk under his huge legs, and peep about To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/why-man-he-doth-bestride-the-narrow-world-like-a-colossus-and-we/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If I'm taking a picture of Brancusi's grave, I know that there's something of him, of his mortal remains, beneath my feet, and there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/if-i-m-taking-a-picture-of-brancusi-s-grave-i-know-that-there-s/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Keep digging, Flynn. Six feet makes a grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-monk/keep-digging-flynn-six-feet-makes-a-grave/) [Devon Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-monk/) Browse all 723 Grave quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "History says, 'Don't hope on this side of the grave.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seamus Heaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grave" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/seamus-heaney-1711_grave_history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of_563357.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History says, 'Don't hope on this side of the grave.'” — Seamus Heaney", "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": "Seamus Heaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "History says, 'Don't hope on this...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave/#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 } } ] } ```