Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver.

The line observes that sorrow has a uniquely destabilizing power: even people known for composure and rational steadiness can be shaken into doubt, inconsistency, or emotional volatility. It treats grief not as a passing feeling but as a force that tests character and exposes human vulnerability. In Sophoclean tragedy, such an insight fits a world where extreme loss presses individuals beyond ordinary moral and psychological limits, often precipitating reversals in judgment and action. The quote’s significance lies in its refusal to romanticize stoicism; it suggests that wavering under grief is not weakness so much as a universal human response to suffering.