Books can be a real balm when life gets tough, offering words that heal and uplift. That’s why I’ve picked 17 literary quotes that are exactly that – little doses of healing, a touch of understanding, and a whole lot of heart. So, if you’re looking for a moment of connection or a gentle nudge forward, you’re in the right place. Let’s get quoting.
1. “A reminder to remember: just because the sharpness of the sadness has faded does not mean that it was not, once, terrible. It means only that time and space, creatures of infinite girth and tenderness, have stepped between the two of you, and they are keeping you safe as they were once unable to.”
― Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House
2. “Sometimes just to say your own truth out loud is enough to find others like you.”
― Matt Haig, The Midnight Library
3. “Shred the guilt.”
― Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows
4. “Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.”
― Kristin Hannah, The Nightingale
5. “If you are alone, comfort arms are still available; you hold yourself together.”
― Heather Christle, The Crying Book
6. “The hearts I make are shattered, but whole. They’re kaleidoscopes that beam under the sun. They signify hope in love when you’ve lost it because, like love, you can look at a kaleidoscope a thousand different ways and find something new every time. Shattered or not, if you look carefully enough, you’ll find something beautiful in them, and all beautiful things are a little broken.”
― Claire Contreras, Kaleidoscope Hearts
7. “In the end, what matters is this: I survived.”
― Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
8. “Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”
― Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere
9. “What if I forgave myself? I thought.”
― Cheryl Strayed, Wild
10. “You only need one ray of light to chase all the shadows away.”
― Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove
11. “You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things.”
― M. L. Stedman, The Light Between Oceans
12. “Hate is loud, but I think you’ll learn it’s because it’s only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as your remember you’re not alone, you will overcome.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea
13. “Scars are not injuries. A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole.”
― China Miéville, The Scar
14. “Sometimes I think about how lucky it is that I enjoy the wind. When the evening breeze blows, I thank it for clearing up the stuffiness in me and letting me breathe easier.”
― Hwang Bo-reum, Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
15. “I’ve decided to confront it. Confront whatever life throws at me, as I always have. However much I can feel, nothing more, nothing less.”
― Won-pyung Sohn, Almond
16. “All I know is that I’ve wasted all these years looking for something, a sort of trophy I’d get only if I really, really did enough to deserve it. But I don’t want it anymore, I want something else now, something warm and sheltering, something I can turn to, regardless of what I do, regardless of who I become. Something that will just be there, always, like tomorrow’s sky.”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, When We Were Orphans
17. “I was okay just a moment ago. I will learn how to be okay again.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
Now over to you! Any books or quotes that have been your go-to for healing and inspiration? Feel free to share your favorites in the comments below.