Tragedy Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old tragedy quotes, tragedy sayings, and tragedy proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy. Ai Weiwei
The tragedy of life is not that man loses, but that he almost wins. Heywood Broun
Only a great mind that is overthrown yields tragedy. Jacques Barzun
A perfect tragedy is the noblest production of human nature. Joseph Addison
The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives. Albert Einstein
The true end of tragedy is to purify the passions. Aristotle
It is a restful, tragedy because one knows that there is no more lousy hope left. You know you're caught, caught at last like a rat with all the world on its back. And the only thing left to do is shout. Jean Anouilh
The essence of tragedy is to know the end. Charles W. Ferguson
In tragedy, every moment is eternity; in comedy, eternity is the moment. Christopher Fry
Tragedy is like strong acid; it dissolves away all but the very gold of truth. D.H. Lawrence
A tragic situation exists precisely when virtue does not triumph but when it is still felt that man is nobler than the forces which destroy him. George Orwell
The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily. That is what tragedy means. Tom Stoppard
Tragedy rests on the profound conviction that the universe cannot be governed by reason. The gods are not just, and no program of political and economic change can make them alter their ways, Tragedy is a resounding vote of no confidence in the powers that be, and in any powers that might supplant them. Ronald Hayman
A perfect tragedy is the noblest production of human nature. Joseph Addison
A single death is a tragedy. A million death is statistics. Joseph Stalin
Tragedy is a paradoxical combination of a fearful sense of rightness and a pitying sense of wrongness. Northrop Frye
Only individuals can suffer and only individuals have a place in tragedy. Edith Hamilton
The basic fact of human existence is not that it is a tragedy but that it is a bore. H.L. Mencken
For life is a tragedy, wherein we sit as spectators awhile and act out our own part in it. Jonathan Swift
I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel. Horace Walpole
There is only one real tragedy in a woman's life. The fact that the past is always lover, and her future invariably her husband. Oscar Wilde
An affair—even a platonic one is nothing if not a story without wanting others—at one another to watch. Every tragedy needs a chorus. Anthony Brand
The tragedy of an aging woman is she loses her power over men, often the only power she has ever had. Joyce Power
Tragedy ought really to be a great kick at misery. D.H. Lawrence
The great tragedy of the classical languages is to have been born twins. Geoffrey Madan
Oh baby it's a tragedy / Everybody's saying oh my god oh how could she / Be his wife then ruin his life / Stab his heart with an unfaithful knife. Ben6863
There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster. Dalai Lama
Everyone has a thousand wishes before a tragedy, but just one afterward. Frederik Backman
Tragedy and comedy are simply questions of value; a little misfit in life makes us laugh; a great one is a tragedy and cause for expression of grief. Elbert Hubbard
A tragedy is a representation of an action that is whole and complete and of a certain magnitude. A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end. Aristotle