--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the loss pressed down on her chest and…" description: "\"“the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg" --- # the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her… ![“the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.” quote by Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg) > ““the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”” [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grief can feel endless, looping without relief, manifesting as a tight, suffocating pressure. **In simple terms:** Sorrow feels like a tight chest and endless circles. Key Takeaway Acknowledge grief’s shape and let it flow. Themes grief emotional pain loss Mood somber reflective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - therapy sessions - bereavement support - personal reflection - writing about loss Key Concepts psychology trauma circles of sorrow Questions to Reflect On - How does the image of circles help you understand recurring sorrow? - What small step can you take to breathe through grief? A Different Perspective Sustained grief may become numb if unaddressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) ## Related quotes > [“O Lord, Sula,” she cried, “girl, girl, girlgirlgirl.” It was a fine cry—loud and long—but it had no bottom and it had no top,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/o-lord-sula-she-cried-girl-girl-girlgirlgirl-it-was-a-fine-cry-loud/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [It was a fine cry - loud and long - but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/it-was-a-fine-cry-loud-and-long-but-it-had-no-bottom-and-it-had-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“But life was muffled. Muted. Even my lightest moments were wrapped in relentless grief and loss, pressed down by the anxious taste of waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-berry/but-life-was-muffled-muted-even-my-lightest-moments-were-wrapped-in/) [Julie Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-berry/) > [“high-pitched squeal came from the back of her throat, and she sank her fingers into his hair and lifted her hips against his mouth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-chance/high-pitched-squeal-came-from-the-back-of-her-throat-and-she-sank-her/) [Lynda Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-chance/) > [“A soft growl came from his throat."You´re so beautiful,Doc.Every inch of you is soaking wet.Your pussy´s like a ripe peach,juice running down your leg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wright/a-soft-growl-came-from-his-throat-you-re-so-beautiful-doc-every-inch/) [Laura Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wright/) > [You'd have a good voice, if it ever came out of your throat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-heenan/you-d-have-a-good-voice-if-it-ever-came-out-of-your-throat/) [Bobby Heenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-heenan/) > [“Did you track me down to fuck you?” He didn’t think embarrassment had a sound. But it did. It came out of her throat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-theia/did-you-track-me-down-to-fuck-you-he-didn-t-think-embarrassment-had-a/) [V. Theia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-theia/) > [“Undo it, take it back, make every day the previous one until I am returned to the day before the one that made you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nessa-rapoport/undo-it-take-it-back-make-every-day-the-previous-one-until-i-am/) Nessa Rapoport > [No matter what grief or loss takes place, most of life flows on all around us, as though nothing's changed. At some point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammara-webber/no-matter-what-grief-or-loss-takes-place-most-of-life-flows-on-all/) [Tammara Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammara-webber/) > [in the caves of my heart, where pain taps out its rhythms and sorrow sets its loss, i am without direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-bantock/in-the-caves-of-my-heart-where-pain-taps-out-its-rhythms-and-sorrow/) [Nick Bantock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-bantock/) > [Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/sorrow-and-happiness-are-the-heresies-of-virtue-joy-and-anger-lead/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [“It sounded old. Deserve. Old and tired and beaten to death. Deserve. Now it seemed to him that he was always saying or thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/it-sounded-old-deserve-old-and-tired-and-beaten-to-death-deserve-now/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Be merry; you have cause, so have we all, of joy; for our escape is much beyond our loss . . . . then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/be-merry-you-have-cause-so-have-we-all-of-joy-for-our-escape-is-much/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“As a kid I heard the word malignancy as "Malig-Nancy" like an evil woman's name, no matter how many times Kiwi and the Chief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/as-a-kid-i-heard-the-word-malignancy-as-malig-nancy-like-an-evil/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [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/) ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You looked at them and wondered why the were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-looked-at-them-and-wondered-why-the-were-so-ugly-you-looked/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/for-me-art-is-the-restoration-of-order-it-may-discuss-all-sort-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/to-sethe-the-future-was-a-matter-of-keeping-the-past-at-bay/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/hate-does-that-burns-off-everything-but-itself-so-whatever-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-know-how-a-star-is-supposed-to-twinkle-we-say-twinkle-because/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-father-saw-two-black-men-lynched-on-his-street-in-cartersville-as/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-was-fierce-in-the-presence-of-death-heroic-even-as-she-was-at-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Explore all 774 Toni Morrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## 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": "“the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-came-up-into-her-throat-it-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-came-up-into-her-throat-it-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b55/toni-morrison-271_grief_the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-c_1085067.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it…” — Toni Morrison", "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": "Toni Morrison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“the loss pressed down on her...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-came-up-into-her-throat-it-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-loss-pressed-down-on-her-chest-and-came-up-into-her-throat-it-was/#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 } } ] } ```