Quotes about goodbye

A collection of quotes on the topic of goodbye, going, time, likeness.

Quotes about goodbye

Robert Baden-Powell photo

“If you have ever seen the play Peter Pan you will remember how the pirate chief was always making his dying speech because he was afraid that possibly when the time came for him to die he might not have time to get it off his chest. It is much the same with me, and so, although I am not at this moment dying, I shall be doing so one of these days and I want to send you a parting word of goodbye.

Remember, it is the last you will ever hear from me, so think it over.

I have had a most happy life and I want each one of you to have as happy a life too.

I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life. Happiness doesn't come from being rich, nor merely from being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be useful and so can enjoy life when you are a man.

Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one.

But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn come to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. "Be Prepared" in this way, to live happy and to die happy - stick to your Scout promise always - even after you have ceased to be a boy - and God help you do it.”

Robert Baden-Powell (1857–1941) lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder and Chief Scout of the Scout Movement
Richard Bach photo

“Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Source: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

“I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS All!”

Christopher McCandless (1968–1992) American hiker and explorer

Final written goodbye, August 13, 1992 http://www.christophermccandless.info/bio.html

Leonard Cohen photo

“But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.”

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

"Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" · Duet with Judy Collins on Soundstage (January 1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVJImYNGqwk
Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
Context: I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
Yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
In city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

Andrew Lloyd Webber photo
Arundhati Roy photo
Leonard Cohen photo

“May everyone live,
And may everyone die.
Hello, my love,
And my love, Goodbye.”

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

"Here It Is"
Ten New Songs (2001)

Augustus photo

“Goodbye, Livia; remember our marriage!”
Livia, nostri coniugii memor vive, ac vale!

Augustus (-63–14 BC) founder of Julio-Claudian dynasty and first emperor of the Roman Empire

Said to his wife Livia on his deathbed; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 99. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.

Yoko Ono photo

“Never say goodbye,
You say tomorrow's another day,
All I know is we're here today.”

Yoko Ono (1933) Japanese artist, author, and peace activist

"Never Say Goodbye" on It's Alright (I See Rainbows) (1982).
Context: Never say goodbye,
You say tomorrow's another day,
All I know is we're here today. I've got nightmares I could never share with you,
The kind that keeps me up all night.
So hold me tight till the room is light
And tell me that it's all right.

Vasily Grossman photo
Knut Hamsun photo
Jenny Han photo
Jeffrey Eugenides photo

“I wonder how you say goodbye to someone forever?”

Ann M. Martin (1955) American writer of children's literature
Paulo Coelho photo

“If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new Hello.

Paulo Coehlo”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Variant: If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.

Raymond Chandler photo

“To say goodbye is to die a little.”

Source: The Long Goodbye

Fats Domino photo

“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 (1928–2017) American R&B musician

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

Jodi Picoult photo

“Saying goodbye to the people you love isn't easy”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Between the Lines

Pablo Neruda photo

“It was my destiny to love and say goodbye.”

Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) Chilean poet

Source: Still Another Day

A.A. Milne photo

“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

A.A. Milne (1882–1956) British author

Source: The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh

Helen Fielding photo
Jonathan Safran Foer photo
Lorrie Moore photo
Kate Chopin photo

“Goodbye -- Because I love you.”

Source: The Awakening

Jimi Hendrix photo
Dan Patrick photo

“Goodbye. Game over. Drive home safely.”

Dan Patrick (1956) American sportscaster

Catch Phrases

Pink (singer) photo

“I just came to say goodbye love, goodbye love, goodbye.”

Jonathan Larson (1960–1996) American composer and playwright

Rent (1996)

José Saramago photo
Erica Jong photo

“Driving me away is easier than saying goodbye…”

Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic

Becoming Light: Poems New and Selected (1991)

Demi Lovato photo

“I can't set my hopes too high
'Cause every 'Hello' ends with a 'Goodbye.”

Demi Lovato (1992) American singer, songwriter, actress, and author

Catch Me
Lyrics, Here We Go Again (2009)

Marilyn Monroe photo

“Say goodbye to Pat, say goodbye to the president, and say goodbye to yourself, because you're a nice guy. … I'll see, I'll see.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Last words to Peter Lawford (5 August 1962), as quoted at Spiegel Online http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/0,1518,475898,00.html
Variant: Say good-bye to Pat, say good-bye to Jack and say good-bye to yourself, because you're a nice guy.

Pete Yorn photo
Jon Bon Jovi photo

“I heard your suitcase say goodbye”

Jon Bon Jovi (1962) American singer and musician

Music, New Jersey (1988)

Leonard Cohen photo

“Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

"Leonard Cohen Penned Letter to 'So Long, Marianne' Muse Before Her Death" by Daniel Kreps, in Rolling Stone (7 August 2016) http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/leonard-cohen-pens-final-letter-to-so-long-marianne-muse-w433144
Context: Well Marianne it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. … And you know that I've always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don't need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.

Michelle Branch photo

“I said, goodbye to you; goodbye to everything that I knew. You were the one I loved; the one thing I that I tried to hold on to.”

Michelle Branch (1983) American singer-songwriter and guitarist

"Goodbye to You"
2000s, The Spirit Room (2001)
Context: Of all the things I've believed in? I just want to get it over with. Tears form behind my eyes, but I do not cry. Counting the days that pass me by. I've been searching deep down in my soul. Words that I'm hearing? Are starting to get old. It feels like I'm starting, all over again. The last three years were just pretend. And I said, goodbye to you; goodbye to everything that I knew. You were the one I loved; the one thing I that I tried to hold on to.

A.A. Milne photo
Marcelo H. del Pilar photo
Gilbert O'Sullivan photo

“Say it is. Say it isn't.
Say it's someone else instead.
Say it's good when you don't like fishing.
You just knock it on the head.
You just knock it on the head.
Say goodbye. Say good morning.
Say good evening and good noon.
Say "Hello, tell me how you're feeling."”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Very well thanks and how are you?"
"Say Goodbye" (song)
Song lyrics
Source: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Say Goodbye" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCLuE28J-WU (song on YouTube)

Rumi photo
Cassandra Clare photo

“Simon,” said a voice at his shoulder, and he turned to see Izzy, her face a pale smudge between dark hair and dark cloak, looking at him, her expression half-angry, half-sad. “I guess this is the part where we say goodbye?”

Variant: Simon," said a voice at his shoulder, and he turned to see Izzy, her face a pale smudge between dark hair and dark cloak, looking at him, her expression half-angry, half-sad. "I guess this is the part where we say goodbye?
Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Tennessee Williams photo

“For nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles, Laura -- and so goodbye….”

Tom, Scene Seven
Source: The Glass Menagerie (1944)
Context: Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest stranger — anything that can blow your candles out! — for nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles Laura — and so goodbye…

Haruki Murakami photo
Jonathan Safran Foer photo
Stephen King photo

“The goodbyes we speak and the goodbyes we hear are the good byes that tell us we're still alive.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Source: Wolves of the Calla

Stephen Chbosky photo
Libba Bray photo
Emma Donoghue photo
Sarah Dessen photo

“What happened to goodbye?”

Source: What Happened to Goodbye

“I don't love you anymore. Goodbye.”

Source: Closer

Markus Zusak photo
Markus Zusak photo

“She was saying goodbye and she didn't even know it.”

Source: The Book Thief

Pablo Neruda photo
Stephen King photo
Ernest Hemingway photo
Philippa Gregory photo
Suzanne Collins photo
Markus Zusak photo
Marjane Satrapi photo

“Nothing's worse than saying goodbye. It's a little like dying.”

Marjane Satrapi (1969) Artist

Variant: Saying goodbye is a little like dying.
Source: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Isaac Asimov photo
China Miéville photo
Russell T. Davies photo
Richard Bach photo
Kristin Armstrong photo

“Goodbyes were impossible, unless you didn't realize you were saying them.”

Luanne Rice (1955) American author

Source: The Geometry of Sisters

Sarah Dessen photo

“I'd wanted a real kiss, something to remember, but i'd long ago learned not to be picky with farewells. They weren't guaranteed or promised. You were lucky, more than blessed, if you got a goodbye at all.”

Variant: But I'd long ago learned not to be picky in farewells. They weren't guaranteed or promised.
You were lucky, more than blessed, if you got a good-bye at all.
Source: The Truth About Forever

Stephen King photo
Raymond Chandler photo
Yann Martel photo
John Boyne photo

“" he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying, "Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon.”

John Boyne (1971) Irish novelist, author of children's and youth fiction

Source: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Rachel Caine photo

“The Clique…. the only thing harder than getting in is saying goodbye.”

Lisi Harrison (1970) Canadian writer

Variant: The Clique: The only thing harder then getting in is staying in.
Source: Charmed and Dangerous: The Rise of the Pretty Committee

Martin Amis photo
Juliet Marillier photo
Pete Yorn photo
Dido photo

“So we must say Goodbye, my darling,
And go, as lovers go, for ever;
Tonight remains, to pack and fix on labels
And make an end of lying down together.”

Alun Lewis (1915–1944) Welsh poet

"Goodbye", line 1; p. 24.
Ha! Ha! Among the Trumpets (1945)

Orson Welles photo
Joanna Newsom photo

“As the day is long,
so the well runs dry,
and we came to see Time is taller
than Space is wide.
And we bade goodbye
to the Great Divide:
found unlimited simulacreage to colonize!”

Joanna Newsom (1982) American musician

Divers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divers_(Joanna_Newsom_album) (2015)

Carole King photo

“Hey girl I want you to know
I'm gonna miss you so much if you go.
And hey girl I tell you no lie,
Something deep inside of me's going to die
If you say so long, if this is goodbye.”

Carole King (1942) Nasa

Hey Girl (1963), Co-written with Freddie Scott and Gerry Goffin, recorded by Freddie Scott and Donny Osmond
Song lyrics, Singles

John Hagee photo
Martin Firrell photo
Neil Young photo

“There you stood on the edge of your feather
Expecting to fly.
While I laughed, I wondered whether
I could wave goodbye
Knowin' that you'd gone.”

Neil Young (1945) Canadian singer-songwriter

Expecting to Fly, from Buffalo Springfield Again
Song lyrics, With Buffalo Springfield

Walter Cronkite photo
Elton John photo

“So goodbye yellow brick road,
Where the dogs of society howl.
You can't plant me in your penthouse,
I'm going back to my plough.”

Elton John (1947) English rock singer-songwriter, composer and pianist

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Song lyrics, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

Jeremy Soule photo