Quotes and passages on feelings

The best and most beautiful things in
the world cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

Many of us have a tendency to deny any negative feelings. We judge them as "bad" or "unenlightened" when, in fact, they are our stepping stone to enlightenment. Our so-called negative feelings or attitudes are really parts of ourselves that need recognition, love, and healing. Not only is it safe and healthy to acknowledge and accept all of our feelings and beliefs, it is necessary, if we are to get in touch with the fears and pockets of blocked energy that are holding us back from what we want. Shakti Gawain

Pay attention to your feelings. They are there to help you; they are your friend. When you feel off, take notice. Gently observe your thinking. Where is it? If your thoughts aren't in the here and now, rather than being hard on yourself, or getting too much into details of your thinking (analysis paralysis!), simply direct your attention back to the moment. Don't allow your thoughts to pull you away from happiness. Richard Carlson

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. Thich Nhat Hanh Stepping into Freedom: Rules of Monastic Practice for Novices

That was one of the saddest things about people--their most important thoughts and feelings often went unspoken and barely understood. Alexandra Adornetto Halo

We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect;
we apprehend it just as much by feeling. Therefore, the judgment of
the intellect is, at best, only the half of truth, and must,
if it be honest, also come to an understanding of its inadequacy.

Carl Jung

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Feelings do not grow old along with the body. Feelings form
part of a world I don’t know, but it’s a world where
there’s no time, no space, no frontiers.

Paulo Coelho
Brida

Part of the problem with the word "disabilities" is that it immediately
suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other things that many
of us take for granted. But what of people who can't feel? Or talk
about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways?
What of people who aren't able to form close and strong relationships?
And people who cannot find fulfillment in their lives, or those who have
lost hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life no
joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.

Fred Rogers
The World According to Mr. Rogers

No one can do a thing about feelings; they exist and there's
no way to censor them. We can reproach ourselves for some
action, for a remark, but not for a feeling, quite simply
because we have no control at all over it.

Milan Kundera
Identity

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear
and grief, that does not find relief in music.

George Eliot

But feelings can't be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.

Anne Frank
The Diary of a Young Girl

I imagine you come across a number of people who are disconcerted
by the difference between what you do feel and what they fancy you
ought to feel. It is fatal to pay the smallest attention to them.

Dorothy L. Sayers
Gaudy Night

Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the
person who has rationalized his or her emotions.

David Borenstein

You can't run from feelings, Charity. You have to face them.
Otherwise your future will look just like your past.

Elizabeth Jane Howard
Mr. Wrong

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you. Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader). All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another. Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

There's no "should" or "should not" when it comes to having feelings.
They're part of who we are and their origins are beyond our control.
When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive
choices about what to do with those feelings.

Fred Rogers
The World According to Mr. Rogers

When I loved myself enough, I started feeling all my feelings,
not analyzing them--really feeling them. When I do, something
amazing happens. Try it. You will see..

Kim McMillen
When I Loved Myself Enough

Articles and book excerpts on feelings:

The River of Feelings      Thich Nhat Hanh
To Be Long      tom walsh
Transforming Feelings     Thich Nhat Hanh

The way to free your feelings is to simply feel them.

Shaeri Richards
Dancing with Your Dragon

People who keep their feelings to themselves tend
not to know, after a while, what their feelings are.

Paul Berman

It's not that I have stopped feeling, it's just that I have
stopped expressing. And that causes more pain to the heart
and more suffering to the soul. Because the feelings unexpressed,
the words unspoken and the prayers unheard are much more
heart rending than the physical or mental distress.

Shalini Govil

Notice what happens when you doubt, suppress, or act contrary to
your feelings. You will observe decreased energy, powerless or
helpless feelings, and physical or emotional pain. Now notice what
happens when you follow your intuitive feelings. Usually the result
is increased energy and power and a sense of natural flow. When
you're at one with yourself, the world feels peaceful, exciting, and magical.

Shakti Gawain

You can have regret from yesterday, fear tomorrow but peace
today by sharing your heart’s deepest feelings. A life spent
being fearful of showing your soul is a life not worth living.

Shannon L. Alder

If you are feeling hurt you are allowing yourself to be hurt by other people’s
unskilled behavior. Very few people choose to be mean, or even thoughtless.
Many have so much going on in their own mind they don't realize in the
moment how they are coming across, and most likely later they may feel
as unskilled as you have at times like these. Doesn't this call for a great
deal of empathy and compassion for everyone concerned?

unattributed

You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel,
but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.

Pearl S. Buck

Life is an exercise in the development of feeling. When we repress
feelings, we become sour and judgmental. When we live awash in
great feeling over small things, we become jaded long before we
have even begun to enjoy. When feelings are in balance they sweeten
long days and great distances with gratitude and hope.

Joan Chittister
Seeing with Our Souls

Feelings are your guide. Trust your feelings and learn to express them, and
do not blame anyone for how you feel. Be yourself, observe yourself. Look
to understand any crisis you have been in or will be in.

Barbara Marciniak
Family of Light

Become aware of the dragons and fears inside you. Nonjudgmentally
observing feelings gives us the opportunity to understand ourselves
better and allows the feelings themselves to heal and transform. If
you fearfully resist feelings, labeling them bad/wrong/ugly, they'll
stick to your mind and grow. Acknowledge all of your feelings. You
don't need to act on them; just see that they are within you. Invite
your dragons into the light of your attention and respect. Then,
accept them. Feelings aren't right or wrong; they just are. A gentle
climate of love and acceptance fosters the possibility of change and
growth in feelings that only worsen if kept hidden.

Sue Patton Thoele
The Courage to Be Yourself

You have a right to your feelings. Your feelings are there to tell you
something, but they are not infallible guides to behavior.

Nathaniel Branden
Self-Esteem Every Day

Confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression
always takes strength, not weakness. It takes strength to
acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength yet to
curb the aggressive urges anger may bring and to channel them
into nonviolent outlets. It takes strength to face our sadness and
to grieve and to let our grief and anger flow in tears when they
need to. It takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach
out for help and comfort when we need it.

Fred Rogers
The World According to Mr. Rogers

Very young children are not afraid to express what they feel.
They are so loving that if they perceive love, they melt into
love. They are not afraid to love at all. That is the description
of a normal human being. As children we are not afraid of the
future or ashamed of the past. Our normal human tendency is
to enjoy life, to play, to explore, to be happy, and to love.

Don Miguel Ruiz
The Four Agreements

Like waves on a beach, feelings come, and then they go. I do not
cling to one feeling in particular; instead, I let come and then let go.
Sometimes I feel sad, melancholic, or angry. These feelings emerge
suddenly and I let them come and then go without any great concern.
And when they go, calmness returns. I have learned
not to resist feelings. I embrace them. I welcome them.

unattributed
Happiness One Day at a Time