Closure Quotes

“There’s a trick to the 'graceful exit.' It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over — and let it go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out.”
― Ellen Goodman

“If you have feelings for someone, let them know. It doesn’t matter if they can be in your life or not. Maybe, it is just enough for both of you to release the truth, so healing can occur. The opposite is true, as well. If you don’t have feelings for someone then never let another person suggest that you do. Protect your reputation and be responsible for the wrong information spread about you. Never allow anyone to live with a false belief or unfounded hope about you. An honorable person sets the record straight, so that person can move on with their life.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Like time suspended,
a wound unmended--
you and I.

We had no ending,
no said goodbye;

For all my life,
I'll wonder why.”
― Lang Leav, Love & Misadventure

“Time doesn't heal all wounds, only distance can lessen the sting of them.”
― Shannon Alder

“Arrogance is someone claiming to have come to Christ, but they won't spend more than five minutes listening to your journey because they are more concerned about their own well being, rather than being a true disciple of Christ. Blessed is the person that takes the time to heal and hear another person so they can move on.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Sometimes the door closes on a relationship, not because we failed but because something bigger than us says this no longer fits our life. So, lock the door, shed a tear, turn around and look for the new door that's opened. It's a sign that you're no longer that person you were, it's time to change into who you are. It's going to be okay.”
― Lee Goff

“Nothing changes until people decide to do the things they must, in order to bring about peace.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Closure is just as delusive-it is the false hope that we can deaden our living grief.”
― Stephen Grosz, The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves

“Every broken heart has screamed at one time or another," I want to know why!”
― Shannon L. Alder

“But my world fell apart, and all they could do, the whole universe, was to silently move on.”
― Khadija Rupa, Unexpressed Feelings

“I couldn't help but suspect something he'd seen or encountered had changed his view of what had happened between them. It had somehow set him free. And he'd let it fly, that gorgeous blackbird of a love he'd been keeping in a cage. What was it like for him, every day standing outside in the wind and rain to stare at the ocean, yearning for some sign of her, never giving up hope? At The Peak perhaps she'd finally come into view, a ship coming neither toward him nor away, only riding that perfect line between heaven and earth, long enough for him to know that she had loved him, that what they had was real, before slipping out of sight, probably forever.”
― Marisha Pessl, Night Film

“Closure
/klōZHər/ Noun

1. The thing women tell you what they want, but secretly they really want you to tell them why you don’t want them again, so they can try one last time to convince you that you were wrong.

2. The warped mentality that having someone tell you honestly why they don’t want you is going to somehow make you feel peace, so you can move on.

3. The neat packaging of finishing conversations because you have been stewing over it insecurely about the length of what a stalker does.

4. The one thing women don’t give themselves because if they didn’t care about the jerk they wouldn’t still be hanging onto another conversation that tells them what they already know: He just isn’t that interested in you.

5. The anal retentive art of perfecting every ending with meaning, rather than just excepting you went through something rather sucky and he doesn’t care.

6. The act of closing something with someone, when in reality you should slam the door.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“When religious people take the stance that they don’t owe anyone that is hurting closure or answers then God is not winning. Conflict continues because of lack of communication, fear and indifference.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“We've been very lonely, but we had it easy. Because death is so heavy - we, too young to know about it, couldn't handle it. After this you and I may end up seeing nothing but suffering, difficulty and ugliness, but if only you'll agree to it, I want for us to go on to more difficult places, happier places, what ever comes, together. I want you to make the decision after you're completely better, so take your time thinking about it. In the mean time, though, don't disappear on me.”
― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

“Jay's not sure he believes in therapy. He definitely doesn't believe in closure. People aren't doors. They're whole floor plans, entire labyrinths, and the harder you try to escape, the more lost inside them you become.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“What was closure if not a clock? Not an end as everyone imagined, but a beginning.”
― Celeste Chaney, In Absence of Fear

“There are certain memories I'd never write down or tell anyone. I know what happens when you write things down. They change shape. Some of the feeling goes away. Things on the page are never as rich as they are in your head, as they were in real life.”
― Hanna Halperin, I Could Live Here Forever

“When all else fails, try and figure out what's to be gained or learned
if this was the way it absolutely needed to happen.

When all else fails, accept that this is the way it is.

When all else fails, walk away.”
― Shellen Lubin

“Closure is a false harmony, a siren song masquerading as a swan song.”
― Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

“Closure is not always available in our lives. Sometimes, we must move on without the answer.”
― RJ Intindola – (Gandolfo) – 1999

“I cannot, will not, tell the full story of my next few hours. I'll only say that I found what I knew I must: the sun-bleached bones of everyone I'd once loved. Even knowing what I would find, I was unprepared for the knife of pain that cut through me. I half fell, half dismounted, from my pony. Kneeling on the ground, I gave in to the grief I'd held at bay for so long. I howled like an animal. I beat my fists against my chest. I wept. I don't know how long it went on. Time disappears, I suppose, when you need it to.”
― Katherine Applegate, The Only

“See that vine?" I said to Tobble. "My siblings and I used to swing out from it, then land in the lake." I gave a small laugh. "Well, they did anyway. I was too afraid."
"You? Afraid?"
"Always and forever," I said. "I'm beginning to think that's how life works."
"Are we stopping here?" Tobble asked. "The horses are well watered."
"Yes, but I'm not. Do you know what I need, Tobble? I need a swim."
I checked the icy water with a long stick to be sure it was as deep as I recalled. Two silver fish darted past. As I clambered to a low-hanging branch, I felt a familiar shiver of anticipation and dread, and for a moment, I was the old Byx, with all her hopes and fears and longings. Then I kicked off as hard as I could, swung far out over the pond, and let go.”
― Katherine Applegate, The Only

“Tragedy happens to lots of people. You can decide to let it destroy you, or you can decide to move on.”
― Helen Klein Ross, What Was Mine

“When you understand that closure is a fantasy, you have all the closure you'll ever need.”
― Katherine Morgan Schafler, The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power

“Standing there with our heads tilted back to the sky, our faces lit by ancient starlight and the dying fires of those fragments of a planet broken up long ago, I forgot where I was, what I had gone through, what I had lost.”
― Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists

“Solutions often provide the closure we need to activate our ability to let go and move on, but our approach to be optimistic by pursuing closure through finding solutions is what keeps us talking about it and it teeters on that line of holding on to something.”
― Niedria Kenny, Order in the Courtroom: The Tale of a Texas Poker Player

“But you're going to have to face your fears if you want to put this to rest." I reach out and touch her arm. "You can't carry this back home with you." Her hand, cold and smooth, lands on top of mine.
"How did you get so wise?" She laughs.
"I didn't. I just mimic smart people.”
― Jessa Maxwell, The Golden Spoon

“When people reflect on harsh events in their lives, it's important that they write or talk and not just think. Thinking doesn't provide the narrative closure that writing or talking does, and it often leads people to sink into ruminative loops that prolong their anguish.”
― Geoffrey L Cohen, Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides - Library Edition

“He’s still in shock, but sooner or later, his trauma will catch up to him, and the anger will surface. Better we allow him to purge it in a way that brings him closure, than let it simmer beneath the surface and poison him.”
― Marie Mistry, Across an Endless Sea

“The whispers of the dead echo through time, seeking justice and closure.”
― Sharyn McCrumb, The Ballad of Frankie Silver