Quotes about Feelings

It’s not about facts, it’s about feelings. It’s about remembering feelings and happiness.  A definition of art is that it makes concrete our most subtle emotions. I think the highest form of art is music. It’s the most abstract of all art expression.

I think that perhaps we always fall in love the very first time we see the man of our dreams, even though, at the time, reason may be telling otherwise, and we may fight against that instinct, hoping against hope that we won't win, until there comes a point when we allow ourselves to be vanquished by our feelings...

Human relations are built on feeling, not on reason or knowledge. And feeling is not an exact science; like all spiritual qualities, it has the vagueness of greatness about it.

I think that perhaps we always fall in love the very first time we see the man of our dreams, even though, at the time, reason may be telling otherwise, and we may fight against that instinct, hoping against hope that we won't win, until there comes a point when we allow ourselves to be vanquished by our feelings...

An uncomfortable feeling is not an enemy. It’s a gift that says, "Get honest; inquire." We reach out for alcohol, or television, or credit cards, so we can focus out there and not have to look at the feeling. And that's as it should be, because in our innocence we haven't known how. So now what we can do is reach out for a paper and a pencil, write thought down, and investigate.

It is only in the space that our thoughts and our feelings enclose that our happiness can breathe in freedom.

"But try getting blindly carried away by your feelings, without reasoning, without a primary cause, driving consciousness away at least for a time; start hating, or fall in love, only so as not to sit with folded arms."

Feel, don't think. Use your instincts.

There are no words to express the feeling and reality of completeness, our natural state of Being. It can only be experienced.

“I want to love you but you don’t want to love me. I can’t love someone if they don’t have the same feelings for me as I do for them”

Decisions that apply meanings to your feelings are the cause of great suffering.

The state of ill health is a moment to
moment happening.  Healing is moment
to moment balance, bringing awareness
to our thoughts, feelings and emotions and
how we respond. 

'Living' people don't make excuses for their emotions. They accept that feelings come as part of the human package; they embrace and walk with them on their journey.

I subscribe to Hellenic existential values, which is to say, nothing is truly "understood" in any penetrating or rational way until it has been traced back to its implications for ultimate values. Moralizing in the most profound and synoptic way should be the primary challenge for modern philosophers, a way of recovering the kind of articulated value-intelligence that ancient culture exercised. For most moderns there are no such things as foundational values or principles; there are only feelings, vagrant or idiosyncratic emotionalisms. To "think" in a merely abstract or conceptualizing way, free of the tasks of connoisseurial and spiritual evaluation, is in truth already a form of delusionality just in itself: it is the error that Kant describes of a bird realizing how much resistance the wind causes for it, and imagining that if only it were in empty space it could fly ever so much better. Hegel's understanding of the task of philosophy "in medias res"--having to come to see and understand not in a hypothetical vacuum or laboratory conditions in vitro but amidst the turbulence and conflicts of actual historical existence--is the only ultimately sane, rational, and humanly responsible method.

We may dress in another's clothes and in a poor light look as they but we do not thereby become those we do but imitate. It is so with words. They seem familiar and will do to have the salt passed or order a shoe mended. But to speak of feelings, of despair, love, loneliness or hope they are but betrayers, deniers of truth were truth itself to be netted like fish in the sea. There is a territory where no words suffice.

The true spiritual aspirant is the one who bears witness to the self in the real world; one who, in a split second, witnesses the thoughts, feelings and emotions that arise in the mind, and is able to either say, “Yes go ahead,” or, “No do not go ahead with this course of action.” This gives one the opportunity to act in accordance with their higher self at all times.

"the heart is the birth of will"

Best way to get away from negative feelings and emotions is to involve ourselves without getting involved. It comes by practice and is beneficial for our health; be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

Let everything happen to you, beauty and terror, no feeling is final.

Letting go of fear is living luxuriously.

Minor white lies permeate our daily lives, especially when we feel the need to protect someone else’s feelings.

Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible ~ the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.

If there is one thing I've learned in thirty years as a psychotherapist, it is this: If you can let your experience happen, it will release its knots and unfold, leading to a deeper, more grounded experience of yourself. No matter how painful or scary your feelings appear to be, your willingness to engage with them draws forth your essential strength, leading in a more life-positive direction.

Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.  They are chaotic, sometimes painful, sometimes contradictory, but they come from deep within us.  And we must key into those feelings... This is how new visions begin. 

Feelings are the language of the soul

There are those who will dismiss love as a naïve and romantic construct of our culture. Others will wax poetic and tell you that “love is all,””love is the bird call and the glint in a young girl’s eyes on a summer night.” Some will be dogmatic and tell you emphatically that “God is Love.” And some, according to their own experience, will tell us, “Love is a strong emotional attachment to another…”etc. In some cases you will find that people have never thought of questioning love, much less defining it, and object violently even to the suggestion that they think about it. To them love is not to be pondered, it is simply to be experienced. It is true to some degree all of these statements are correct, but to assume that any one is best or all there is to love, is rather simple. So each man lives love in his limited fashion and does not seem to relate the resultant confusion and loneliness to this lack of knowledge about love.

In discussing love, it would be well to consider the following premises;

One cannot give what he does not possess. Too give love you must possess love.
One cannot teach what he does not understand. To teach love, you must comprehend love.
One cannot know what he does not study. To study love, you must live in love.
One cannot appreciate what he does not recognize. To recognize love you must be receptive to love.
One cannot have doubt about that which he wishes to trust. To trust love you must be convinced of love.
One cannot admit what he does not yield to. To yield to love you must be vulnerable to love.
One cannot live what he does not dedicate himself to. To dedicate yourself to love you must be forever growing in love.

There are those who will dismiss love as a naïve and romantic construct of our culture. Others will wax poetic and tell you that “love is all,””love is the bird call and the glint in a young girl’s eyes on a summer night.” Some will be dogmatic and tell you emphatically that “God is Love.” And some, according to their own experience, will tell us, “Love is a strong emotional attachment to another…”etc. In some cases you will find that people have never thought of questioning love, much less defining it, and object violently even to the suggestion that they think about it. To them love is not to be pondered, it is simply to be experienced. It is true to some degree all of these statements are correct, but to assume that any one is best or all there is to love, is rather simple. So each man lives love in his limited fashion and does not seem to relate the resultant confusion and loneliness to this lack of knowledge about love.

“Often we may feel that something in us doesn’t want to be understood or healed. We don’t want to go to the doctor. We decide against taking a class. We’re tired of the friend who always tries to change us, give us advice, or figure us out. These feelings, sometimes dismissed as resistance or defense, may be Daphne sensitivities, honest emotions keeping the soul intact.”
    From “Soul Mates” ~ Thomas Moore ~

...once again we face a paradox, for it appears
that softening your heart and gently tending its wounds
will protect you from evil.
Building a fortress and defending yourself behind it will
only make you more vulnerable.
Healing your own heart is the single
most powerful thing you can do
to change the world.
Your own transformation will enable you to withdraw
so completely from evil
that you contribute to it by not one word, one thought, or one breath.
This healing process is like recovering your soul.