quotations about emotion
Emotions are not tools of cognition. They tell you nothing about the nature of reality.
DAVE GALANTER
Troublesome Minds
Emotions are raised in us, not only by the qualities and actions of others, but also by their feelings. I cannot behold a man in distress, without partaking of his pain; nor in joy, without partaking of his pleasure.
HENRY HOME KAMES
Elements of Criticism
I have feelings, but my pen cannot and will not write feelings; nay, my heart has no mind that can coin them into words.
LYMAN ABBOTT
Reminiscences
We have lost confidence in reason because we have learned that man is chiefly a creature of habit and emotion.
JOHN DEWEY
"What I Believe"
The fact of the matter is that, since we are determined always to keep our feelings to ourselves, we have never given any thought to the manner in which we should express them. And suddenly there is within us a strange and obscene animal making itself heard, whose tones may inspire as much alarm in the person who receives the involuntary, elliptical and almost irresistible communication of one's defect or vice as would the sudden avowal indirectly and outlandishly proffered by a criminal who can no longer refrain from confessing to a murder of which one had never imagined him to be guilty.
MARCEL PROUST
The Guermantes Way
There are so many tender and holy emotions flying about in our inward world, which, like angels, can never assume the body of an outward act; so many rich and lovely flowers spring up which bear no seed, that it is a happiness poetry was invented, which receives into its limbs all these incorporeal spirits, and the perfume of all these flowers.
JEAN PAUL RICHTER
attributed, Flowers; Their Moral
An emotion is like one of those dashboard sensor lights, "No, check engine," right? I'm angry. "Oh, maybe this is a sign that I should get curious about why am I angry? What's going on with me?"
PAUL TEVIS
"Empathy: A Keystone Habit", InfoQ, February 2, 2019
Emotions talked to you before you had words, so listen to them ... they are often more honest than the mind's remarkable ability to self deceive.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
FaceBook post, Jul. 7, 2014
Emotions can keep you ill. When the brain warns of danger, emotion leaps into action; blood pressure increases, adenaline flows into the blood stream, muscles tense. When emergency passes, the emotions let up and we relax. But when the danger does not go away ... the emotions keep pouring out distress signals which may ultimately manifest themselves physically.
BLAKE CLARK
attributed, Words of Wisdom and Quotable Quotes
If we deny emotion, we lose all touch with our internal universe.
FRANK HERBERT
God Emperor of Dune
Anything that's human is mentionable, and anything that's mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we're not alone.
FRED ROGERS
You Are Special: Neighborly Wit and Wisdom from Mister Rogers
He who embodies his own emotions in the verbiage of his tongue and pen, addresses an eternal audience; for human nature is identical, and its highest vernacular never changes.
MAGOON
attributed, Day's Collacon
People who think they can control their negative emotions and manifest them when they want to, simply deceive themselves. Negative emotions depend on identification; if identification is destroyed in some particular case, they disappear. The strangest and most fantastic fact about negative emotions is that people actually worship them.
P. D. OUSPENSKY
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution
Is "UGH" an emotion? Because I feel it all the time.
ANONYMOUS
If as children our inner emotions had been repeatedly heard and validated in a loving way, then as adults we wouldn't get stuck in negative emotions. But most of us weren't supported this way as children, so we have to do it for ourselves.
JOHN GRAY
Men Are from Mars
Loving emotions, like plants, shoot up most rapidly in the tempestuous atmosphere of life.
JOHN PAUL F. RICHTER
attributed, Laconics; or
Funny about feelings, they seem to come and go in a flash yet outlast metal.
JOHN UPDIKE
Rabbit is Rich
Calm feeling is like a lake without ripples; emotion is like ripples appearing on the surface of the lake, that change the appearance of whatever is reflected there.
SWAMI KRIYANANDA
"Intuition and Insight", Economic Times, January 27, 2019
One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
H.P. LOVECRAFT
Supernatural Horror in Literature