--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings." description: "\"In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg" --- # In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings. ![“In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg) > “In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in deep grief, one can find the capacity to rise above and seek freedom. **In simple terms:** Sorrow can be a catalyst for growth. Key Takeaway Pain can inspire transcendence. Themes resilience hope transformation Mood reflective determined Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - recovering from loss - overcoming personal crisis Key Concepts psychological coping symbolic rebirth Practical Applications - use grief as motivation for change Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn personal sorrow into a source of strength? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Spread Your Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread-your-wings/) ## Related quotes > [Spread your wings or your legs no one really cares, just don't spread hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/spread-your-wings-or-your-legs-no-one-really-cares-just-don-t-spread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Look to the horizon, spread your wings, and fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reilly/look-to-the-horizon-spread-your-wings-and-fly/) Tom Reilly > [“In the face of change, do not be afraid to spread your wings and let the winds guide you to new horizons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shree-shambav/in-the-face-of-change-do-not-be-afraid-to-spread-your-wings-and-let/) [Shree Shambav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shree-shambav/) > [“Spread your wings. Fly as far to know who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-m-perrin/spread-your-wings-fly-as-far-to-know-who-you-are/) [Frederic M. Perrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-m-perrin/) > [Mamma told me not to waste my life She said spread your wings my little butterfly Don't let what they say keep you up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/me-ft-little-mix/mamma-told-me-not-to-waste-my-life-she-said-spread-your-wings-my/) Me Ft Little Mix > [God is about to put you in a place where you will spread your wings! Where you used to be wouldn't allow you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-is-about-to-put-you-in-a-place-where-you-will-spread-your-wings/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Until you spread your wings you have no idea how far you'll fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/until-you-spread-your-wings-you-have-no-idea-how-far-you-ll-fly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/until-you-spread-your-wings-you-ll-have-no-idea-how-far-you-can-fly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mama told me not to waste my life, she said spread your wings my little butterfly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/little-mix/mama-told-me-not-to-waste-my-life-she-said-spread-your-wings-my/) [Little Mix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/little-mix/) > [R.I.P to those who won't be here to celebrate Christmas with us, spread your wings and fly in heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/r-i-p-to-those-who-won-t-be-here-to-celebrate-christmas-with-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Dont just rest in ur nest, spread your wings and find your zest!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijaya-raje-lakshmi/dont-just-rest-in-ur-nest-spread-your-wings-and-find-your-zest/) Vijaya Raje Lakshmi > [Spread your wings and fly away; I've given you all I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/spread-your-wings-and-fly-away-i-ve-given-you-all-i-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dont be afraid to take an unfamiliar path, sometimes theyre the ones that take you to the best places. Spread your wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-be-afraid-to-take-an-unfamiliar-path-sometimes-theyre-the-ones/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Stand up and let the world hear your roar, now spread your wings and begin to soar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mya-waechtler/stand-up-and-let-the-world-hear-your-roar-now-spread-your-wings-and/) Mya Waechtler > [Cuz I got one thing on my mind I'll be your valentine. Spread your wings and baby fly away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-thicke/cuz-i-got-one-thing-on-my-mind-i-ll-be-your-valentine-spread-your/) [Robin Thicke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-thicke/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## 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": "In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wings/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wings/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/susan-sontag-332_grief_in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wing_102926.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the valley of sorrow, spread your wings.” — Susan Sontag", "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": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the valley of sorrow, spread...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wings/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/in-the-valley-of-sorrow-spread-your-wings/#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 } } ] } ```