Mark Twain on the death of his daughter

To die one’s self is a thing that must be easy, & light of consequence; But to lose a part of one’s self—well, we know how deep that pang goes, we who have suffered that disaster, received that wound which cannot heal. It is one of the mysteries of our nature that a man, all unprepared, can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live. It will take mind and memory months and possibly years to gather together the details and thus learn and know the whole extent of the loss.

Mark Twain, on the death of his daughter (1888)