Sorrow is the mere rust of the soul.
Activity will cleanse and brighten it. [ Johnson ]

Canst thou not minster to a mind diseased;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the foul bosom of that perilous stuff,
Which weighs upon the heart? [ William Shakespeare ]

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain?
And with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart? [ William Shakespeare, Macbeth ]

Cleanse the fountain if you would purify the streams. [ A. Bronson Alcott ]

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them. [ Aughey ]

Calumny spreads like an oil-spot: we endeavor to cleanse it, but the mark remains. [ Mlle de Lespinasse ]