Top 41 Quotes by Meghan O'Rourke

One of the ideas I've clung to most of my life is that if I just try hard enough it will work out.

Our minds are mysterious; our conscious brain is like a ship on a sea that is obscure to us.

Many Americans don't mourn in public anymore - we don't wear black, we don't beat our chests and wail.

Grief is characterized much more by waves of feeling that lessen and reoccur, it's less like stages and more like different states of feeling.

This is part of the complexity of grief: A piece of you recognizes it is an extreme state, an altered state, yet a large part of you is entirely subject to its demands.

And after my mother's death I became more open to and empathetic about other people's struggles and losses.

The truth is, I need to experience my mother's presence in the world around me and not just in my head.

I believe in the importance of individuality, but in the midst of grief I also find myself wanting connection - wanting to be reminded that the sadness I feel is not just mine but ours.

It's all too easy when talking about female gymnasts to fall into the trap of infantilizing them, spending more time worrying more about female vulnerability than we do celebrating female strength.

'Hamlet' is a play about a man whose grief is deemed unseemly.