Quotes about feelings

„The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.“

—  Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Source: Victor Frankenstein in Ch. 5

„Smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy, and smile when I am sad.“

—  Anne Brontë, book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Ch. XV : An Encounter and its Consequences; Gilbert Markham
Source: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)

„And when at last you find someone to whom you feel you can pour out your soul, you stop in shock at the words you utter— they are so rusty, so ugly, so meaningless and feeble from being kept in the small cramped dark inside you so long.“

—  Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

„Do you feel loved by God because you believe he makes much of you, or because you believe he frees you and empowers you to enjoy making much of him?“

—  John Piper American writer 1946

Variant: Do you love the cross because it makes much of you? Or do you love it because it enables you to enjoy and eternity of making much of God?

„He who makes songs without feeling
Spoils both his words and his music.“

—  Guillaume de Machaut French poet and composer 1300 - 1377

Qui de sentement ne fait,
Son dit et son chant contrefait.
"Remede de Fortune", line 407; translation from Josiah Fisk and Jeff Nichols (eds.) Composers on Music (Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1997) p. 5.

„In reality, we are still children. We want to find a playmate for our thoughts and feelings.“

—  Wilhelm Stekel Austrian physician and psychologist 1868 - 1940

As quoted in The Book Of Friendship: Making Life Better (2001) by Cyndi Haynes, p. 6

„The hallucinogens produce visionary states, sort of, but morphine and its derivatives decrease awareness of inner processes, thoughts and feelings. They are pain killers; pure and simple. They are absolutely contraindicated for creative work, and I include in the lot alcohol, morphine, barbiturates, tranquilizers — the whole spectrum of sedative drugs.“

—  William S. Burroughs American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer 1914 - 1997

Quoted in interview, The Paris Review (Fall 1965), in response to "The visions of drugs and the visions of art don't mix?"

„It's not the uncomfortable feelings themselves that hurt, it's our resistance to the uncomfortable feelings that causes us pain.“

—  Teal Swan American spiritual teacher 1984

„I was trying to figure out what I’m doing, and that was the first time I was constantly being kicked down for doing that. When I didn’t know, I just wanted to say, ‘This is what I want, this is where I am in my professional life, things changed in my personal life, things changed in my heart — everything.’ And people just thought, ‘Alright, this is what we think.’ And yeah, I made some decisions that weren’t great as well, and so did he and that’s why we went through all that to only make us better. And he has heard [the song] and he has seen the video, and it’s something that I feel like girls need hear, and it’s something I’m willing to share with people.“

—  Selena Gomez American singer and actress 1992

„I still feel like I'm 15 sometimes and then other times, I'm wanting to feel comfortable in my body and my skin.“

—  Selena Gomez American singer and actress 1992

„You will have no sensation of a leash around your neck if you sit by the peg. It is only when you stray that you feel the restraining tug.“

—  Michael Parenti American academic 1933

2 MEDIA AND CULTURE, Some Call It Censorship, p. 150
Dirty truths (1996), first edition

„You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.“

—  Johnny Depp American actor, film producer, and musician 1963

Also attributed to Chester Bennington (singer of Linkin Park)

„Your true passion should feel like breathing; it’s that natural.“

—  Oprah Winfrey American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist 1954

„Religious propaganda gives a dynasty at its beginning another power in addition to that of the group feeling it possessed as the result of the number of its supporters… This happened to the Arabs at the beginning of Islam during the Muslim conquests. The armies of the Muslims at al-Qadisiyah and at the Yarmuk numbered some 30,000 in each case, while the Persian troops at al-Qadisiyah numbered 120,000, and the troops of Heraclius, according to al-Waqidi, 400,000. Neither of the two parties was able to withstand the Arabs, who routed them and seized what they possessed.“

—  Ibn Khaldun, book Muqaddimah

Muqaddimah, Translated by Franz Rosenthal, p. 126, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Muqaddimah (1377)

„I like people who shake other people up and make them feel uncomfortable.“

—  Jim Morrison, Eyes: Poetry, 1967-1971

Source: Eyes: Poetry, 1967-1971

„The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade for a role, you give up your ability to feel and in exchange put up a mask“

—  Jim Morrison lead singer of The Doors 1943 - 1971

„I find the audiences very excited. But then they come and say to me, "Your optimism has brushed off on me. I didn't know we had an option. I feel so much better." They say, "Your optimism." And I am not optimistic or pessimistic. I feel that optimism and pessimism are very unbalanced. I am a very hard engineer.“

—  Buckminster Fuller American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist 1895 - 1983

From 1980s onwards, Only Integrity is Going to Count (1983)
Context: I find the audiences very excited. But then they come and say to me, "Your optimism has brushed off on me. I didn't know we had an option. I feel so much better." They say, "Your optimism." And I am not optimistic or pessimistic. I feel that optimism and pessimism are very unbalanced. I am a very hard engineer. I am a mechanic. I am a sailor. I am an air pilot. I don't tell people I can get you across the ocean with my ship unless I know what I'm talking about.

„You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.“

—  Chester Bennington American singer-songwriter 1976 - 2017

Also attributed to Johnny Depp.

„To determine whether or not you have the ingredients to be charismatic, answer the following questions: What are your real feelings about who you are? What do you believe in? Do you have goals or a mission in life? Do you project optimism? Do others turn to you for leadership? Non-charismatic people spend their lives auditioning for others and hoping they'll be accepted. Charismatic people don't doubt their ability to add value to a situation, so they move forward with their mission.“

—  Roger Ailes Television executive 1940 - 2017

You are the Message : Getting What You Want by Being Who You Are (1989)