Quotes about tears

A collection of quotes on the topic of tear, can, doing, likeness.

Best quotes about tears

„A woman withers when she is watered only with tears.“

— Andrzej Majewski Polish writer and photographer 1966

Aphorisms. Magnum in Parvo (2000)

„Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.“

— John Lennon English singer and songwriter 1940 - 1980

„I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.“

— Jane Austen, book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

„I shed more tears than God could ever have required.“

— Arthur Rimbaud, book Illuminations

Source: Illuminations

„Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.“

— Gabriel García Márquez Colombian writer 1927 - 2014

„It all ends in tears anyway.“

— Jack Kerouac, book The Dharma Bums

Source: The Dharma Bums

„Beware when making a woman cry. God is counting her tears.“

— Paulo Coelho, book Adultery

Source: Adultery

„But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.“

— Hans Christian Andersen, book The Little Mermaid

Source: The Little Mermaid

„If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.“

— Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

6
Stray Birds (1916)

„Don't allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily“

— Paulo Coelho Brazilian lyricist and novelist 1947

All quotes about tears

Total 1436 quotes tear, filter:

„Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."
A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."
Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.“

— Rick Riordan, book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

Beauty, Star, Night

„Let it go, you've got to forget about revenge. Believe me, in this work I've met a lot of guys who feel the way you do. Trust me, for those who follow the path of revenge, it never ends well. You'll only tear yourself apart and even if you succeed with your revenge, what would you have then... nothing, emptiness.“

— Hatake Kakashi, book Naruto

To Sasuke

Forgetting, Feeling, Revenge, Way

„Our love affair ended in tears but a deep bond grew out of it, and that's something nobody can take away from us. It's unreachable“

— Freddie Mercury British singer, songwriter and record producer 1946 - 1991

On his relationship with Mary Austin, as quoted in "Rock On Freddie" (1985).
Context: Our love affair ended in tears but a deep bond grew out of it, and that's something nobody can take away from us. It's unreachable … All my lovers ask me why they can't replace her, but it's simply impossible.
I don't feel jealous of her lovers because. of course, she has a life to lead, and so do I. Basically, I try to make sure she's happy with whoever she's with and she tries to do the same for me.
We look after each other and that's a wonderful form of love. I might have all the problems in the world, but I have Mary and that gets me through.

Love

„If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, and under the circumstances it is a little wearing. But our motto is the old west coast proverb,; in other words, don't flurry; patience gains the day.“

— Robert Baden-Powell lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder and Chief Scout of the Scout Movement 1857 - 1941

Patience

„Close friends are truly life's treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone.“

— Vincent Van Gogh Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890) 1853 - 1890

Life, Support, Laughter, Friendship

„There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.“

— Washington Irving writer, historian and diplomat from the United States 1783 - 1859

Love, Sad, Hurtful

„Just as I was starting on my journey the idea came to me for a new symphony, this time with a program, but a program which will remain an enigma to all— let them guess it who can. It will be called "A Programmatic Symphony" (No. 6). During my trip, while composing in my mind, I frequently shed tears. When I got home I settled down to sketch it, and the work went so furiously that I had the first movement completely ready in less than four days and the remaining movements are already clearly outlined in my head. Half the third movement is already done. There will be much innovation of form in this symphony— and incidentally, the finale will not be a noisy allegro but, on the contrary, a long drawn-out adagio. You can't imagine what bliss I feel, being convinced that my time is not yet passed and I can still work. Perhaps, of course, I'm mistaken, but I don't think so.“

— Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Russian composer 1840 - 1893

Letter to a nephew (late February 1893)

Feeling, Home, Imagination, Idea

„I am convinced that comics should not only make people laugh. For this in my stories found tears, anger, hatred, pain and end not always happy.“

— Osamu Tezuka Japanese cartoonist and animator 1928 - 1989

Quoted in Helen McCarthy, Osamu Tezuka: God of manga , translated by Fabio Deotto, Edizioni BD, 2010, back cover.

Pain, People, Anger, Happiness

„Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?"
"If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.“

— Cassandra Clare, book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Parting, Clothes

„There is a sacredness in tears…. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.“

— Washington Irving writer, historian and diplomat from the United States 1783 - 1859

Love, Sad, Hurtful

„I believe tears are holy, because they show us that the ice of our heart is melting.“

— Barbara De Angelis American psychologist 1951

Heart

„Let your tears roll tonight, but tomorrow you will start the battle again. What defeats us, always, is just our own sorrow.“

— Amin Maalouf Francophone Lebanese writer based in France 1949

Source: The First Century After Beatrice

„If the Olive Trees knew the hands that planted them, Their Oil would become Tears.“

— Mahmoud Darwich Palestinian writer 1941 - 2008

Tree

„Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.“

— Ludwig Van Beethoven German Romantic composer 1770 - 1827

Music, Heart

„God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Fear not, the child will not die.“

— Grigori Rasputin Russian mystic 1869 - 1916

As quoted in the opening of The Chalice of Immortality - Page xi - Google Books Result https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1402215037

God, Fear

„I was moved to tears by the thought that from being nobody the night before, I had become somebody.“

— Milkha Singh Indian track and field athlete 1935

While at the EME Army center in 1951 in the cross country race he was declared 6 in the top 10 who among the 500 who ran. Quoted in ‘Flying Sikh' takes a nostalgic jog down memory lane, 6 April 2012, 13 December 2013, The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/flying-sikh-takes-a-nostalgic-jog-down-memory-lane/article3285904.ece,

Night

„Our love affair ended in tears but a deep bond grew out of it, and that's something nobody can take away from us. It's unreachable … All my lovers ask me why they can't replace her, but it's simply impossible.
I don't feel jealous of her lovers because. of course, she has a life to lead, and so do I. Basically, I try to make sure she's happy with whoever she's with and she tries to do the same for me.
We look after each other and that's a wonderful form of love. I might have all the problems in the world, but I have Mary and that gets me through.“

— Freddie Mercury British singer, songwriter and record producer 1946 - 1991

On his relationship with Mary Austin, as quoted in "Rock On Freddie" (1985).

Happiness, Problem, Lovers, World

„If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.“

— Rabindranath Tagore Bengali polymath 1861 - 1941

Life, Star, Sun, Cry

„I know of a cure for everything: salt water… in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.“

— Karen Blixen Danish writer 1885 - 1962

As quoted in Reader's Digest (April 1964)
Variant: I know a cure for everything. Salt water … in one form or another, sweat, tears or the salt sea.
Variant: The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea.

Way, Water, Sea

„Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.“

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning English poet, author 1806 - 1861

Aurora Leigh http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/barrett/aurora/aurora.html (1857)
Context: And truly, I reiterate,.. nothing's small!
No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;
No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;
No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim:
And, — glancing on my own thin, veined wrist, —
In such a little tremour of the blood
The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul
Doth utter itself distinct. Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more, from the first similitude.

Bk. VII, l. 812-826.

God, Shoe

„Nobody is worth your tears, and the one who is won't make you cry“

— Paulo Coelho, book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

Cry

„As a matter of fact," the other voice went on, "if you do tie her up from time to time, or whip her just a little, and she begins to like it, that’s no good either. You have to get past the pleasure stage, until you reach the stage of tears.“

— Pauline Réage, book Story of O

Source: Story of O

Pleasure, Time, Past

„No man is worth your tears, but once you find one that is, he won't make you cry.“

— Dwight D. Eisenhower American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961) 1890 - 1969

Cry

„Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make strangers shed a tear for one another“

— Morrie Schwartz American sociologist 1916 - 1995

Death

„Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all.“

— Laura Ingalls Wilder American children's writer, diarist, and journalist 1867 - 1957

Michael Landon, in Little House on the Prairie (TV series), Season 2, Ep 8 (5 November 1975) "Remember Me", Part 1
Misattributed

Smile, Laughter

„Smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy, and smile when I am sad.“

— Anne Brontë, book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Source: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Ch. XV : An Encounter and its Consequences; Gilbert Markham

Sadness, Smile, Feeling, Cry

„Sadness isn't sadness. It's happiness in a black jacket. Tears are not tears. They're balls of laughter dipped in salt. Death is not death. It's life that's jumped off a tall cliff.“

— Paul McCartney English singer-songwriter and composer 1942

Source: Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics, 1965-1999

Life, Death, Sadness, Laughter

„I tore off my mask so as not to lose one of her tears… and she did not run away!… and she did not die!… She remained alive, weeping over me, weeping with me. We cried together! I have tasted all the happiness the world can offer.“

— Gaston Leroux, book The Phantom of the Opera

Source: The Phantom of the Opera

World, Happiness

„If I had to tell you how humans made their way to Earth, it would go like this: In the beginning, there was nothing at all but the moon and the sun. And the moon wanted to come out during the day, but there was something so much brighter that seemed to fill up all those hours. The moon grew hungry, thinner and thinner, until she was just a slice of herself, and her tips were as sharp as a knife. By accident, because that is the way most things happen, she poked a hole in the night and out spilled a million stars, like a fountain of tears.

Horrified, the moon tried to swallow them up. And sometimes this worked, because she got fatter and rounder.. But mostly it didn't, because there were just so many. The stars kept coming, until they made the sky so bright that the sun got jealous. He invited the stars to his side of the world, where it was always bright. What he didn't tell them, though, was that in the daytime, they'd never be seen. So the stupid ones leaped from the sky to the ground, and they froze under the weight of their own foolishness.

The moon did her best. She carved each of these blocks of sorrow into a man or a woman. She spent the rest of her time watching out so that her other stars wouldn't fall. She spent the rest of her time holding onto whatever scraps she had left.“

— Jodi Picoult Author 1966

Stupidity, World, Way, Star

„Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, be strong and keep reminding your self that everything happens for a reason.“

— John Mayer guitarist and singer/songwriter 1977

Smile, Sense, Strong, Perfection

„How strange! This bed on which I shall lie has been slept on by more than one dying man, but today it does not repel me! Who knows what corpses have lain on it and for how long? But is a corpse any worse than I? A corpse too knows nothing of its father, mother or sisters or Titus. Nor has a corpse a sweetheart. A corpse, too, is pale, like me. A corpse is cold, just as I am cold and indifferent to everything. A corpse has ceased to live, and I too have had enough of life…. Why do we live on through this wretched life which only devours us and serves to turn us into corpses? The clocks in the Stuttgart belfries strike the midnight hour. Oh how many people have become corpses at this moment! Mothers have been torn from their children, children from their mothers - how many plans have come to nothing, how much sorrow has sprung from these depths, and how much relief!… Virtue and vice have come in the end to the same thing! It seems that to die is man's finest action - and what might be his worst? To be born, since that is the exact opposite of his best deed. It is therefore right of me to be angry that I was ever born into this world! Why was I not prevented from remaining in a world where I am utterly useless? What good can my existence bring to anyone? … But wait, wait! What's this? Tears? How long it is since they flowed! How is this, seeing that an arid melancholy has held me for so long in its grip? How good it feels - and sorrowful. Sad but kindly tears! What a strange emotion! Sad but blessed. It is not good for one to be sad, and yet how pleasant it is - a strange state…“

— Frédéric Chopin Polish composer 1810 - 1849

Stuttgart. After 8th September 1831.
Source: "Selected Correspondence Of Fryderyk Chopin"; http://archive.org/stream/selectedcorrespo002644mbp/selectedcorrespo002644mbp_djvu.txt

Life, Children, People, Lie

„You do not have to struggle to reach God, but you do have to struggle to tear away the self-created veil that hides him from you“

— Paramahansa Yogananda, book Autobiography of a Yogi

Source: Autobiography of a Yogi

God

„And I wanna kiss you, make you feel alright
I'm just so tired to share my nights
I wanna cry and I wanna love
But all my tears have been used up
On another love, another love
All my tears have been used up“

— Tom Odell British singer-songwriter 1990

Another Love
Lyrics, Long Way Down

Love, Feeling, Kiss, Cry

„Hear first the four roots of all things: shining Zeus, life-bringing Hera, Aidoneus, and Nestis, who wets with tears the mortal wellspring.“

— Empedocles, book On Nature

fr. 6
On Nature
Original: (el) τέσσαρα γὰρ πάντων ῥιζώματα πρῶτον ἄκουε· Ζεὺς ἀργὴς Ἥρη τε φερέσβιος ἠδ’ Ἀιδωνεύς Νῆστίς θ’, ἥ δακρύοις τέγγει κρούνωμα βρότειον.
Source: Aidoneus corresponds to Hades.
Source: Nestis corresponds to Persephone.

Life

„As we walked into the room
There were faces staring, glaring, tearing through me,
Someone said, 'Welcome to your doom,'
Then they smiled with eyes that looked as if they knew me,
This is scaring me.“

— Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter and dancer 1958 - 2009

This Place Hotel
Triumph (1980)

Smile

„Blood sweat and tears homie I'm made of it“

— Kid Cudi American rapper, singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor from Ohio 1984

-Dat New New
Music

„Another Boring Love Story

She was risky at best.
She had a sordid past.
She was complicated.
She was wild.
She had numerous demons.
But she had a loving heart.
But she had a soft smile.
But her tears smelled like morning dew.
But she was intelligent and worldly.
But she intimidated men.
So, I dove in headfirst without a second thought.
And wow; she was a demon.
The End“

— RJ Intindola (Gandolfo)

2005

Smile, Past, Intelligence, Heart

„We cannot tear a single page from our life, but we can throw the whole book into the fire.“

— George Sand, book Mauprat

Nous ne pouvons arracher une seule page de notre vie, mais nous pouvons jeter le livre au feu.
Source: Mauprat, ch. 11 (1837); Matilda M. Hays (trans.) Mauprat (London: E. Churton, 1847) p. 121

Life, Books

„No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say goodbye.“

— Andrew Lloyd Webber British composer 1948

Memory, Help

„So here is my story, may it bring
Some smiles and a tear or so,
It happened once upon a time,
Far away, and long ago,
Outside the night wind keens and wails,
Come listen to me, the Teller of Tales!“

— Brian Jacques, book Lord Brocktree

Source: Lord Brocktree

Smile, Time, Night

„As he was about to climb yet another dune, his heart whispered, "Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That's where I am, and thats where your treasure is.“

— Paulo Coelho, book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

Heart

„Ceaseless as the interminable voices of the bell-cricket, all night till dawn my tears flow.“

— Murasaki Shikibu, book The Tale of Genji

Source: Tale of Genji, The Tale of Genji, trans. Arthur Waley, Ch. 1

Night

„Go ahead and cry, Andy. Don't be afraid of those tears. Sometimes they help to wash the soul clean.“

— Sharon M. Draper, book Tears of a Tiger

Source: Tears of a Tiger

Soul, Help, Cry

„But how,” said Charles, who was close to tears, “how can you possibly justify cold-blooded murder?’
Henry lit a cigarette. “I prefer to think of it,” he had said, “as redistribution of matter.“

— Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Source: The Secret History

Thinking

„Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man’s will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself.“

— Patrick Rothfuss, book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 86, “The Fire Itself” (pp. 672-673)

Love, Men, Light, Strong

„She heard him mutter, 'Can you take away this grief?'
'I'm sorry,' she replied. 'Everyone asks me. And I would not do so even if I knew how. It belongs to you. Only time and tears take away grief; that is what they are for.“

— Terry Pratchett, book I Shall Wear Midnight

Source: I Shall Wear Midnight

Time

„Choking with dry tears and raging, raging, raging at the absolute indifference of nature and the world to the death of love, the death of hope and the death of beauty, I remember sitting on the end of my bed, collecting these pills and capsules together and wondering why, why when I felt I had so much to offer, so much love, such outpourings of love and energy to spend on the world, I was incapable of being offered love, giving it or summoning the energy with which I knew I could transform myself and everything around me.“

— Stephen Fry, book Moab Is My Washpot

Source: Moab Is My Washpot

Love, Death, World, Beauty

„Come, pain, feed on me. Bury your fangs in my flesh. Tear me asunder.
I sob, I sob.“

— Virginia Woolf, book The Waves

Source: The Waves

Pain

„Poetry is written with tears, fiction with blood, and history with invisible ink.“

— Carlos Ruiz Zafón, book The Angel's Game

Source: The Angel's Game

History

„Tears do not burn except in solitude.“

— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995

Source: On the Heights of Despair (1934)

Solitude

„Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.“

— Amy Bloom Fiction writer, screenwriter, social worker, psychotherapist 1953

Love, People, Understanding, Wedding

„Tears are words that need to be written.“

— Paulo Coelho Brazilian lyricist and novelist 1947

Sad, Heartbreaking

„But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.“

— Viktor E. Frankl, book Man's Search for Meaning

Source: Man's Search for Meaning

Courage, Suffering

„Half of the people lie with their lips; the other half with their tears“

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb, book The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

People, Lie

„No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.“

— Robert Frost American poet 1874 - 1963

The Figure a Poem Makes (1939)

„Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.“

— Billy Graham American Christian evangelist 1918 - 2018

Moving On

„For this moment, this one moment, we are together. I press you to me. Come, pain, feed on me. Bury your fangs in my flesh. Tear me asunder. I sob, I sob.“

— Virginia Woolf, book The Waves

Source: The Waves

Pain

„Ennui is the echo in us of time tearing itself apart.“

— Emil M. Cioran, book A Short History of Decay

A Short History of Decay (1949)

Time

„General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!“

— Ronald Reagan American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989) 1911 - 2004

Speech at the Brandenburg Gate. (12 June 1987)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

„Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears. In the end that’s all there is: love and its duty, sorrow and its truth. In the end that’s all we have - to hold on tight until the dawn“

— Gregory David Roberts, book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Love, Truth, Hope, Cry

„In his early twenties, a man started collecting paintings, many of which later became famous: Picasso, Van Gogh, and others. Over the decades he amassed a wonderful collection. Eventually, the man’s beloved son was drafted into the military and sent to Vietnam, where he died while trying to save his friend. About a month after the war ended, a young man knocked on the devastated father’s door. “Sir,” he said, “I know that you like great art, and I have brought you something not very great.” Inside the package, the father found a portrait of his son. With tears running down his cheeks, the father said, “I want to pay you for this.ℍ “No,” the young man replied, “he saved my life. You don’t owe me anything.ℍ The father cherished the painting and put it in the center of his collection. Whenever people came to visit, he made them look at it. When the man died, his art collection went up for sale. A large crowd of enthusiastic collectors gathered. First up for sale was the amateur portrait. A wave of displeasure rippled through the crowd. “Let’s forget about that painting!” one said. “We want to bid on the valuable ones,” said another. Despite many loud complaints, the auctioneer insisted on starting with the portrait. Finally, the deceased man’s gardener said, “I’ll bid ten dollars.ℍ Hearing no further bids, the auctioneer called out, “Sold for ten dollars!” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But then the auctioneer said, “And that concludes the auction.” Furious gasps shook the room. The auctioneer explained, “Let me read the stipulation in the will: “Sell the portrait of my son first, and whoever buys it gets the entire art collection. Whoever takes my son gets everything.ℍ It’s the same way with God Almighty. Whoever takes his Son gets everything.“

— Jimmy Carter American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981) 1924

Source: Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President

Life, God, War, People

„Sometimes when she told stories about the past her eyes would get teary from all the memories she had, but they weren't tears. She wasn't crying. They were just the memories, leaking out.“

— Ruth Ozeki, book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Memory, Past, Cry

„She's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever“

— Jeff Buckley American singer, guitarist and songwriter 1966 - 1997

Soul

„I have loved in life and I have been loved.
I have drunk the bowl of poison from the hands of love as nectar,
and have been raised above life's joy and sorrow.
My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it.
My heart has been rent and joined again;
My heart has been broken and again made whole;
My heart has been wounded and healed again;
A thousand deaths my heart has died, and thanks be to love, it lives yet.
I went through hell and saw there love's raging fire,
and I entered heaven illumined with the light of love.
I wept in love and made all weep with me;
I mourned in love and pierced the hearts of men;
And when my fiery glance fell on the rocks, the rocks burst forth as volcanoes.
The whole world sank in the flood caused by my one tear;
With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved,
I shook the throne of God in heaven.
I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love,
"Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret."
She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear,
"My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover,
and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored.“

— Hazrat Inayat Khan Indian Sufi 1882 - 1927

Source: The Dance of the Soul

Love, Life, Death, Men

„Why, I can smile and murder whiles I smile,
And cry 'content' to that which grieves my heart,
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face for all occasions“

— William Shakespeare English playwright and poet 1564 - 1616

Source: King Henry VI, Part 3

Smile, Heart, Cry

„Sometimes when I'm alone
I Cry,
Cause I am on my own.
The tears I cry are bitter and warm.
They flow with life but take no form
I Cry because my heart is torn.
I find it difficult to carry on.
If I had an ear to confide in,
I would cry among my treasured friend,
but who do you know that stops that long,
to help another carry on.
The world moves fast and it would rather pass by.
Then to stop and see what makes one cry,
so painful and sad.
And sometimes…
I Cry
and no one cares about why.“

— Tupac Shakur rapper and actor 1971 - 1996

Life, Pain, World, Sadness

„The worst kind of pain is when you're smiling just to stop the tears from falling.“

— Hiro Mashima Japanese manga artist 1977

Pain, Smile, Depressing

„True confessions are written with tears only. But my tears would drown the world, as my inner fire would reduce it to ashes.“

— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995

Source: On the Heights of Despair (1934)

World

„Fairy Song
Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Weep no more! oh, weep no more!
Young buds sleep in the root’s white core.
Dry your eyes! oh, dry your eyes!
For I was taught in Paradise
To ease my breast of melodies,—
Shed no tear.

Overhead! look overhead!
‘Mong the blossoms white and red—
Look up, look up! I flutter now
On this fresh pomegranate bough.
See me! ’tis this silvery bill
Ever cures the good man’s ill.
Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Adieu, adieu—I fly—adieu!
I vanish in the heaven’s blue,—
Adieu, adieu!“

— John Keats English Romantic poet 1795 - 1821

Flowers, Sleep, Flying

„You walked in, laughing, tears welling confused, mingling in your throat. How can you be so many women to so many people, oh you strange girl?“

— Sylvia Plath American poet, novelist and short story writer 1932 - 1963

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Women, People, Girl

„I didn't know why I was going to cry, but I knew that if anybody spoke to me or looked at me too closely the tears would fly out of my eyes and the sobs would fly out of the throat and I'd cry for a week.“

— Sylvia Plath, book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Cry, Flying

„Even when a river of tears courses through this body, the flame of love cannot be quenched.“

— Izumi Shikibu Japanese poet 976 - 1033

Love

„Haven't people learned yet that the time of superficial intellectual games is over, that agony is infinitely more important than syllogism, that a cry of despair is more revealing than the most subtle thought, and that tears always have deeper roots than smiles?“

— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995

On the Heights of Despair (1934)

People, Smile, Game, Learning

„"In twenty years," I said, smiling at her tears, "a man grows humble, Mary. I have stored within me a great fund of affection, with nobody to give it to, and I swear to you, on the word of a soldier, that if there is one of those ladies who can be got to care for me I shall be very proud." Despite her semblance of delight I knew that she was wondering at me, and I wondered at myself, but it was true.“

— J. M. Barrie, book The Little White Bird

Source: The Little White Bird (1902), Ch. 26

Smile

„But, Madam, let your grief be laid aside,
And let the fountain of your tears be dry'd,
In vain they flow to wet the dusty plain,
Your sighs are wafted to the skies in vain,
Your pains they witness, but they can no more,
While Death reigns tyrant o'er this mortal shore.“

— Phillis Wheatley American poet 1753 - 1784

"To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, aged one Year." st. 2, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773)

Death, Pain

„Those American comics themselves were heavily influenced by Keaton’s comedies, Mack Sennett, those sorts of films from the golden age of comedy. The gagmen that appeared there, for example Roscoe Arbuckle or Ben Turpin, there were lots of comics that used their style, their faces just as is. Especially Chaplin with his bowed legs and over-sized shoes. Those sorts of features were used directly in comics. In that era, all American cartoonists imitated the stars of comedy. That is what I worked so hard at copying, and so that’s why my comics are bowlegged and big-shoed. At the level of content too I was deeply influenced by the strong social caricatures of Chaplin’s comedies, the tears mixed with the laughter. The biggest influence of all was the rhythm.“

— Osamu Tezuka Japanese cartoonist and animator 1928 - 1989

Source: http://www.tcj.com/tezuka-osamu-and-american-comics/ Tezuka Osamu and American Comics

Age, Shoe, Star, Laughter

„Without the meed of some melodious tear.“

— John Milton, Lycidas

Source: Lycidas (1637), Line 14

„I think I always knew that I would have kids but I didn’t… understand… the… whooooo [brims with tears once again]. That I could love my kids the way that I love ‘em. I didn’t know there was… room for that. You love your wife, your family, but it’s different with your kids. I didn’t know I could be so selfless. I would do anything for my kids. Anything. I guess everybody goes through it.“

— Brandon Flowers American indie rock singer 1981

When asked what surprised him about being a husband and a father?
" Brandon Flowers On His Sons http://www.ibabycouture.com/blog/?p=3729", BabyCouture (accessed December 20, 2010)

Love, Family, Way, Understanding

„More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.“

— Truman Capote American author 1924 - 1984

Disputed

„This is the criminal left that belongs not in a dormitory, but in a penitentiary. The criminal left is not a problem to be solved by the Department of Philosophy or the Department of English—it is a problem for the Department of Justice…. Black or white, the criminal left is interested in power. It is not interested in promoting the renewal and reforms that make democracy work; it is interested in promoting those collisions and conflict that tear democracy apart.“

— Spiro Agnew 39th Vice President of the United States 1918 - 1996

Speech at a Florida Republican dinner, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (April 28, 1970); reported in Collected Speeches of Spiro Agnew (1971), p. 135.

Justice, Democracy, Problem

„The kids are starting to burn this place and to trash it. They're dragging a grand piano down the stairs. It's the destruction of high culture, about which they're nothing but cynical, because they don't believe that hard work and sacrifice can produce something of any value. They want to bring it down and destroy it. You can see it in the story of Cain and Abel. Abel is hard working and everyone likes him, and he makes the proper sacrifices, so his life goes really well. And that's part of the reason that Cain hates him. He's jealous and resentful, but worse than that – if you're not doing very well and you're around someone who is doing very well it's painful, because the mere fact of their Being judges you. And so it's very easy to want to destroy that ideal so that you don't have to live with the terrible consequences of seeing it embodied in front of you. And so part of the reason that people want to tear things down is so that they don't have anything to contrast themselves against and to feel bad. And that's exactly what's happening here. Kids are destroying all of this culture, because the fact that it exists judges them.“

— Jordan Peterson Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology 1962

2017 Maps of Meaning 4: Marionettes and Individuals (Part 3) [54:55-56:15]
Maps of Meaning

Life, Pain, Hate, People

„Beyond this vale of tears
There is a life above,
Unmeasured by the flight of years;
And all that life is love.“

— James Montgomery British editor, hymn writer, and poet 1771 - 1854

The Issues of Life and Death.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Love, Life

„He left no time to regret,
Kept his dick wet,
With his same old safe bet.
Me & my head high,
And my tears dry,
Get on without my guy.“

— Amy Winehouse English singer and songwriter 1983 - 2011

Back To Black
Song lyrics, Back To Black (2006)

Guy, Time

„You made me cry,
when you said goodbye
Ain't that a shame
My tears fell like rain
Ain't that a shame
You're the one to blame“

— Fats Domino American R&B musician 1928 - 2017

Ain't That a Shame (1955) co-written with Dave Bartholomew

Cry

„Men who give way easily to tears are good. I have nothing to do with those who hearts are dry and who eyes are dry!“

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, book Elective Affinities

Tränenreiche Männer sind gut. Verlasse mich jeder, der trocknen Herzens, trockner Augen ist!
Bk. I, Ch. 18, R. J. Hollingdale, trans. (1971), p. 147
Elective Affinities (1809)

Men, Way, Heart

„As for my feelings toward "Over the Rainbow", it's become part of my life. It is so symbolic of all dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why people sometimes get tears in their eyes when they hear it.“

— Judy Garland actress, singer and vaudevillian from the United States 1922 - 1969

Letter to Harold Arlen, as quoted in Over the Rainbow : The Wizard of Oz as a Secular Myth of America (1991) by Paul Nathanson, p. 340

Life, People, Dreams, Feeling

„Hope had grown grey hairs,
Hope had mourning on,
Trenched with tears, carved with cares,
Hope was twelve hours gone.“

— Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Wreck of the Deutschland

"The Wreck of the Deutschland", lines 115-118
Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1918)

Hope

„Tonight my wife must watch alone
the full moon over Fu-zhou;
I think sadly of my sons and daughters far away,
too young to understand this separation
or remember our life in Chang'an.
In fragrant mist, her flowing hair is damp;
In clear moonlight, her jade-white arms are cold.
When will we lean at the open casement together
while the moonlight dries our shining tears?“

— Du Fu Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty 712 - 770

"Moonlit Night" https://allpoetry.com/Moonlit-Night (trans. David Lunde)

Life, Understanding, Thinking, Daughters

„I have to find my peace 'cause no-one seems to let me be,
False prophets cry of doom, what are the possibilities?
I told my brothers 'There'll be problem times and tears for fears,
We must live each day like it's the last,
Go with it, go with it, jam!“

— Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter and dancer 1958 - 2009

Dangerous (1991)

Fear, Peace, Problem, Time

„Leonid Brezhnev needed a haircut, so he went down to the ground floor of the Kremlin and plopped into the chair. It was understood that at such times the barber was to say not a word, just cut hair. But this morning, after a few snips he said: "Comrade Brezhnev what are you going to do about Poland?" No reply. Some minutes later: "Comrade Brezhnev, what about Poland?" Again no reply. Then, pretty soon: "Comrade Brezhnev, you've got to do something about Poland." At this Brezhnev jumps out of the chair and tears away the cloth: "What's all this about Poland?" and the barber says: "It makes my job so much easier," and Brezhnev screams: "What do you mean?" and the barber says: "Every time I mention Poland your hair stands straight up on end."“

— James A. Michener, book Poland

page 567
Poland (1983)

Time, Clothes

„Not only were we practicing, we were nervous rehearsing, because he would sit in a chair with a belt in his hand, and if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up. Really get you…We were terrified of him. So terrified, I can't tell you. I don't think he realized how scared…scared…I mean SCARED. So scared that I would regurgitate. (with emphasis) Mmm-hmm. (reporter asks Michael what caused the reaction) His presence, just seeing him…And I was so fast, he wouldn't catch me half the time, but when he did, oh my God, it was bad.“

— Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter and dancer 1958 - 2009

On his father & the whippings he & his brothers would receive from him
Living with Michael Jackson (2002)

God, Way, Thinking, Time

„So, then, Oxford Street, stonyhearted stepmother, thou that listenest to the sighs of orphans, and drinkest the tears of children, at length I was dismissed from thee.“

— Thomas De Quincey, book Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

Pt. I.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822-1856)

Children

„Listen to the stage manager and get on stage when they tell you to. No one has time for the rock star act. None of the techs backstage care if you're David Bowie or the milkman. When you act like a jerk, they are completely unimpressed with the infantile display that you might think comes with your dubious status. They were there hours before you building the stage, and they will be there hours after you leave tearing it down. They should get your salary, and you should get theirs.“

— Henry Rollins, book Black Coffee Blues

Black Coffee Blues

Jerk, Star, Thinking, Time

„When the dryness and the rain finally drink from one another
The gentle cup of mutually surrendered tears!“

— Aaron Weiss

The Dryness and the Rain.
Brother, Sister (2006)

Drink

„They ask you for facts, proofs, works, and all you can show them are transformed tears.“

— Emil M. Cioran Romanian philosopher and essayist 1911 - 1995

The New Gods (1969)

„You can knock me down, but you better have a big rock to put me there… It's been tough, but that's alright. I am the oldest of ten kids and I am a survivor. I love this business so much, that there's no way I could think of retiring. When I'm 87, I'll still be walking on the Grand Ole Opry and singing "Here comes more tears to cry…". I still don't feel that I have the biggest record yet, or sang it the best. I think the best is yet to come, and that's the truth!“

— Dottie West American country music singer 1932 - 1991

From an interview with "The Nashville Network" in 1991, putting rumors aside that she might be retiring.

Love, Truth, Way, Feeling

„I come to make song, after the tears.
And even if a choir of men
sprayed my tongue with silence,
poetry will come, with liberating voice,
to make my song fall from the trees
and reach the most deeply buried abysses of those tears
that the child lent me when crying himself into life.Because my infant song
is stronger than man’s tears,
and it could even conquer me
robbing the need of tears from the sun and the wind.“

— Juan Antonio Villacañas Spanish poet, essayist and critic 1922 - 2001

"New Songs for After the Tears", from Revolt of a Newborn (1973)

Men, Tree, Silence, Sun

„No tears are shed, when an enemy dies.“

— Publilio Siro Latin writer

Maxim 376
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave

„The love, the echoes of long ago
you needed the world to know
They are in Xanadu
The dream that came through a million years
That lived on through all the tears, it came to Xanadu“

— Jeff Lynne British rock musician 1947

"Xanadu"
Xanadu (1980)

Love, World, Dreams

„Circumstance is a factory of tears.“

— P. L. Deshpande Marathi writer, humourist, actor, dramatist 1919 - 2000

From his various literature
Original: (mr) परिस्थिति हा अश्रूंचा कारखाना आहे!.
Source: These words are uttered by the lead character of his work with the same name - Sakharam Gatne.