Epitaphs from the Classics

The soul that suffers is stronger than the soul that rejoices. – E. Shepard
Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into Heaven. – H.W. Beecher
Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts, not amid joy. – F. Hemans
What seem to us but dim funereal tapers may be Heaven’s distant lamps. – Longfellow
Death is the golden key that opens the palace of Eternity. – Milton
There is a sweet job that comes to us through sorrow. -Spurgeon
Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. -Moore
Heaven, the treasury of everlasting joy. -Shakespeare
Death is not a foe, but an inevitable adventure. -Sir Oliver Lodge
Every man’s life is a plan of God. -Horace Bushnell
The acts of this life are the destiny of the next. -Eastern proverb
The heart of him who truly loves is a paradise on earth. -Lammennais
Mutual love, the crown of all our bliss. -Milton
To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another. -Leibnitz
Humble love, and not proud science, keeps the door of Heaven. -Young
The greatest attribute of Heaven is mercy. -Beaumont and Fletcher
Till the Master of all good workmen shall set us to work anew. -Rudyard Kipling
The end and the reward of toil is rest. -James Beattie
In His will is our peace. -Dante
Safe in the hallowed quiets of the past. -Lowell
Music, when soft voices die, vibrates in the memory. -Shelley
Each lonely scene shall thee restore. -William Collines
Things past belong to memory alone, things future are the property of hope. -John Home
Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule. -Cowper
Nature’s loving proxy, the watchful mother. -Bulwer
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul. -Longfellow
The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, One’s nearer God’s heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth. -Dorothy Francis Gurney