Sad and heartbreaking quotes

Gary Paulsen book Hatchet

Source: Hatchet

“To leave a good memory of oneself, one must earn a place in the memory of others.”

Zafar Mirzo (1972)

“The creations of a person will enclose eternal memory of him.”

Zafar Mirzo (1972)

“I never realized that a child is capable of remembering so well and of waiting so patiently”

Janusz Korczak (1878–1942) Polish physician and writer

Source: Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents

“Love sees no enemies…fear does.”

Plato (-427–-347 BC) Classical Greek philosopher

“My mother had a look on her face that I'll never forget. It was one of complete despair and horror, for losing Bing, for being so foolish as to think she could use faith to change fate.”

Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club

Source: The Joy Luck Club (1989), Ch. 7, pg. 130

“She was still waiting for him to come back to her, even though he wasn't going to. She was still holding out for something that wasn't going to happen. She was good at waiting. That seemed like a sad thing to be good at.”

Ann Brashares book Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

Source: Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

“The best deed of a great man is to forgive and forget.”

Ali book Nahj al-Balagha

Nahj al-Balagha

“The use of video evidence is not always conclusive, but it sure beats the memory bank of most witnesses.”

Jack Gibson (1929–2008) Australian rugby league player and coach

Gibson is a massive supporter of modern technology being used in top-grade Rugby League to clear up any decisions that the match referee may not be able to adjudicate on definitively.

“I never waited 27 years, because 27 years ago I was just born. My parents never told me, 'If you don't win Roland Garros we take you to the orphanage.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

When asked what it was like to wait 27 years to win the French Open. http://198.105.192.83/general/tennis/story?storyId=4760203

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books

Often attributed to Dr. Seuss without citation; also cited as an anonymous proverb.
This quote has also been attributed to Gabriel García Márquez, in Spanish: "No llores porque ya se terminó, sonríe porque sucedió."
Compare lines from In Memoriam A.H.H. of Tennyson:
&emsp;&emsp;'Tis better to have loved and lost
&emsp;&emsp;Than never to have loved at all.
Disputed
Variant: Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

“Perhaps it was freedom itself that choked her.”

Patricia Highsmith book The Price of Salt

Source: The Price of Salt

“What part should nature play in a work of art? Where should the line be drawn? And from the standpoint of practical procedure - should one work directly from nature or merely study and remember it? Too much freedom frightens me, poor imitator that I am, and yet my head is filled with so many images evoked by what I see around me at all times that nature seems insignificant and banal.”

Paul Sérusier (1864–1927) French painter

Quote from a letter to Maurice Dennis, 1889; as quoted by John Rewald in Pierre Bonnard; MoMA - distribution, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1918, p. 14 - note 7