Jim Carrey's "River of sorrows"

Jim Carrey has survived a "river of sorrow".

The 'Bruce Almighty' star - who tragically lost his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White and faced a legal battle following her death - has spoken about the "virtue in hopelessness".

Speaking during Michael Moore‘s Broadway show 'The Terms of My Surrender', he said: "There’s a virtue in hopelessness. I’m not kidding. You’re off the hook and you don’t have to worry about what’s coming. 'Okay, the world freaking ended. That’s great. Now what?'

"Give up! Surrender to the idea that things are bad and yet still, from 3,000 feet up, we don’t matter. Things are happening and we’re going to happen along with them whether we like it or not. But we don’t matter ...  Once you lose yourself, you’re pretty okay. Just get you out of the way.

"We’re all so afraid of the river of tears. The fact is, going down the river of sorrow and suffering is the way to freedom. I’ve gone through it and I’m telling you, you don’t survive it. You don’t come out of it on the other side. You might come out of it with a body, but there’s no you attached to it. It’s tough to be yourself if you don’t have a self."

It comes after Jim's lawyer Raymond Boucher revealed the actor will find a trial into his ex-girlfriend's death "very painful".

He said: "Mr Carrey loved Ms White dearly and so obviously it will be a very painful process for him."

After the make-up artist's death, Jim paid a loving tribute to his former partner, who he had split from shortly before her passing.

He said: "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of my sweet Cathriona. She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled. My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her. We have all been hit with a lightning bolt."

- Bang! Showbiz