Most heartbreaking lines from a book ever...

From "The Five People you meet in Heaven";

"He was nothing now, a leaf in the water, and she pulled him gently, through shadow and light, through shades of blue and ivory and lemon and black, and he realized all these colors, all along, were the emotions of his life."

Actually, it's the passages leading up to this that start me off, but I don't want to spoil the story for those that haven't read it yet.

This quote from John Green always upsets me.

The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the Prince, he loved him too well. He picked up crumbs outside the baker's door when the baker was not looking, and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings.
But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength to fly up to the Prince's shoulder once more.'Good-bye, dear Prince!' he murmured, 'will you let me kiss your hand?'
'I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow,' said the Prince, 'you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.'
'It is not to Egypt that I am going,' said the Swallow. I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of Sleep, is he not?'
And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.
At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.

The ending of the Michael Morpurgo children's book 'The Dancing Bear' It upset me so much as a child I tore up the book, which really wasn't a 'me' thing to do at all! I haven't been able to bring myself to read it since.

“A mother's body remembers her babiesthe folds of soft flesh, the softly furred scalp against her nose. Each child has its own entreaties to body and soul. It's the last one, though, that overtakes you. I can't dare say I loved the others less, but my first three were all babies at once, and motherhood dismayed me entirely. . . . That's how it is with the firstborn, no matter what kind of mother you arerich, poor, frazzled half to death or sweetly content. A first child is your own best food forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world.

But the last one: the baby who trails her scent like a flag of surrender through your life when there will be no more coming after--oh, that's love by a different name. She is the babe you hold in your arms for an hour after she's gone to sleep. If you put her down in the crib, she might wake up changed and fly away. So instead you rock by the window, drinking the light from her skin, breathing her exhaled dreams. Your heart bays to the double crescent moons of closed lashes on her cheeks. She's the one you can't put down.”

Goodness that’s beautiful. I haven’t read he book but that made my cry, even more poignant because my DD 11 months will be my last baby. It’s definitely reminded me to treasure the moments a little bit more

Why am I reading this thread on my lunch break? A tear just dropped off my chin into my salad

darumafan, that is heart breaking

When I first read Little Woman I thought Beth's death was mawkish and saccharinely sentimental. I can't read it now without crying. Because, yes, it's mawkish and sentimental. But at its very core it's truthful.

I'm glad it was mentioned. Today is my late sister's birthday. And Beth's death was her death.

Oh heavens, I wish I hadn't opened this thread, there isn't enough Kleenex in the world.

Can't remember the exact words but in the Storyteller there's a bit in the concentration camp where a mother comforts her daughter who is dying of starvation by pretending to promise to cook her whatever meal she would like when they are rescued and asks her to describe it to her so she can make it. She's no sooner done so when she slips away - already so harrowing but oh god, the mothers last gesture of love, to ensure she died thinking nice thoughts.

I now see that Jude has been discussed more than any other book! I’m not surprised.

darumafan-

"Daddy, my Daddy".

@darumafan I'm so sorry . I can't imagine what you're going through.

Flowers for Algernon, about half way through when he realises how poorly he has been treated. I don't have a specific quote though.

It's heartbreaking. The whole book.

Have to say, I love His Dark Materials but OP your quote doesn't do much for me. It's the ghosts being released that does it for me.

Also this, from The Boy in the striped Pyjamas:

Despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go.”

I don’t know if anyone has said this yet. I was about 14 when I read it, and shocked to the core. It is from Jude the Obscure:

At the back of the door were fixed two hooks for hanging garments, and from these the forms of the two youngest children were suspended, by a piece of box-cord round each of their necks, while from a nail a few yards off the body of little Jude was hanging in a similar manner.

Ginger dying in black beauty. My horse is a chestnut
Another, already mentioned, is my sister keeper. The film totally ruined it.

Not a published book but my son's journal. He committed suicide when he was 22 years old.
The final line in his journal is:

For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

'One last time, Mariam did as she was told'

A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Oh gosh the deaths of Beth and Matthew as quoted here - those were the tears of my childhood.

There was a time when I couldn't read 'broken bird' ( yes, the childrens book) because it was just too sad....

For some reason I cry every time I read The Lorax and see "UNLESS, someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better it's not."

Plus;
'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than i have ever done.
It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever had'.

I can’t remember the exact line but there is a child’s book called ‘Badgers parting gift’ and explains death to children I guess.

I haven’t read it in years as I sob every time

Dean koontz Watchers. The line ‘fiddle broke’ gets me every time

mawkish individual here ‘because we are too menny’ for me too but whenever I want to cry: ‘My troubles are all over, and I am at home; and often before I am quite awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Birtwick, standing with my friends under the apple trees.’ Black Beauty

and yes ‘my heart has joined The Thousand friend stopped running today’ too

The Bronze Horseman, I might have to reread. A great book and very heart-wrenching.

Thank you, chicken, I will look it up.