--- title: "8 Possessed Heart Quotes by 5 authors" description: "Browse 8 Possessed Heart quotes by 5 authors. Discover the best Possessed Heart sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/anonymous-1_body_like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the_587085.jpg" --- > [Like our bodies and like our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the-machines-we-have-devised-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/anonymous-1_body_like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the_587085.jpg) > [“…We don't get to choose our own hearts. We can't make ourselves want what's good for us or what's good for other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tartt-donna/we-don-t-get-to-choose-our-own-hearts-we-can-t-make-ourselves-want/) [Tartt Donna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tartt-donna/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/042/tartt-donna-63601_character_we-don-t-get-to-choose-our-own-hearts-we_697958.jpg) > [“Like our bodies and our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-machines-we-have-devised-are/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dce/w-g-sebald-2-13661_computers_like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-mach_886479.jpg) > [I have possessed that heart, that noble soul, in whose presence I seemed to be more than I really was, because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-have-possessed-that-heart-that-noble-soul-in-whose-presence-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_heart_i-have-possessed-that-heart-that-noble-s_1016644.jpg) > [“Only here’s what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/only-here-s-what-i-really-really-want-someone-to-explain-to-me-what/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/donna-tartt-391_better-person_only-here-s-what-i-really-really-want-so_1819296.jpg) > [“From William Blake to Lady Gaga, from Rousseau to Rumi to Tosca to Mister Rogers, it’s a curiously uniform message, accepted from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/from-william-blake-to-lady-gaga-from-rousseau-to-rumi-to-tosca-to/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/773/donna-tartt-391_civic-responsibility_from-william-blake-to-lady-gaga-from-rou_2542915.jpg) > [What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a-heart-that-can-t-be-trusted/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/donna-tartt-391_beautiful_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2638217.jpg) > [“What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a-heart-that-can-t-be-trusted-2/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/donna-tartt-391_human-heart_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2973501.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/#itemlist", "name": "Possessed Heart Quotes", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Like our bodies and like our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the-machines-we-have-devised-are/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/anonymous-1_body_like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the_587085.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/anonymous-1_body_like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the_587085.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/anonymous-1_body_like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the_587085.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like our bodies and like our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly…” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“…We don't get to choose our own hearts. We can't make ourselves want what's good for us or what's good for other people. We don't get to choose the people we are…What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can't be trusted--? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, and civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight towards a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster? p.761, \"The Goldfinch”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tartt Donna" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tartt-donna/we-don-t-get-to-choose-our-own-hearts-we-can-t-make-ourselves-want/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/042/tartt-donna-63601_character_we-don-t-get-to-choose-our-own-hearts-we_697958.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/042/tartt-donna-63601_character_we-don-t-get-to-choose-our-own-hearts-we_697958.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/042/tartt-donna-63601_character_we-don-t-get-to-choose-our-own-hearts-we_697958.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“…We don't get to choose our own hearts. We can't make ourselves want what's good for us or what's good for…” — Tartt Donna", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like our bodies and our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers. From the earliest times, human civilization has been no more than a strange luminescence growing more intense by the hour, of which no one can say when it will begin to wane and when it will fade away.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W.G. Sebald" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-machines-we-have-devised-are/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dce/w-g-sebald-2-13661_computers_like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-mach_886479.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dce/w-g-sebald-2-13661_computers_like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-mach_886479.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dce/w-g-sebald-2-13661_computers_like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-mach_886479.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like our bodies and our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly…” — W.G. Sebald", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have possessed that heart, that noble soul, in whose presence I seemed to be more than I really was, because I was all that I could be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-have-possessed-that-heart-that-noble-soul-in-whose-presence-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_heart_i-have-possessed-that-heart-that-noble-s_1016644.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_heart_i-have-possessed-that-heart-that-noble-s_1016644.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_heart_i-have-possessed-that-heart-that-noble-s_1016644.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have possessed that heart, that noble soul, in whose presence I seemed to be more than I really was…” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Only here’s what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight towards a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster? Is Kitsey right? If your deepest self is singing and coaxing you straight toward the bonfire, is it better to turn away? Stop your ears with wax? Ignore all the perverse glory your heart is screaming at you? Set yourself on the course that will lead you dutifully towards the norm, reasonable hours and regular medical check-ups, stable relationships and steady career advancement, the New York Times and brunch on Sunday, all with the promise of being somehow a better person? Or—like Boris—is it better to throw yourself head first and laughing into the holy rage calling your name?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/only-here-s-what-i-really-really-want-someone-to-explain-to-me-what/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/donna-tartt-391_better-person_only-here-s-what-i-really-really-want-so_1819296.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/donna-tartt-391_better-person_only-here-s-what-i-really-really-want-so_1819296.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/donna-tartt-391_better-person_only-here-s-what-i-really-really-want-so_1819296.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only here’s what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a…” — Donna Tartt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From William Blake to Lady Gaga, from Rousseau to Rumi to Tosca to Mister Rogers, it’s a curiously uniform message, accepted from high to low: when in doubt, what to do? How do we know what’s right for us? Every shrink, every career counselor, every Disney princess knows the answer: “Be yourself.” “Follow your heart.” Only here’s what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight towards a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/from-william-blake-to-lady-gaga-from-rousseau-to-rumi-to-tosca-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/773/donna-tartt-391_civic-responsibility_from-william-blake-to-lady-gaga-from-rou_2542915.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/773/donna-tartt-391_civic-responsibility_from-william-blake-to-lady-gaga-from-rou_2542915.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/773/donna-tartt-391_civic-responsibility_from-william-blake-to-lady-gaga-from-rou_2542915.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“From William Blake to Lady Gaga, from Rousseau to Rumi to Tosca to Mister Rogers, it’s a curiously uniform…” — Donna Tartt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight towards a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a-heart-that-can-t-be-trusted/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/donna-tartt-391_beautiful_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2638217.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/donna-tartt-391_beautiful_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2638217.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/704/donna-tartt-391_beautiful_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2638217.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own…” — Donna Tartt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a-heart-that-can-t-be-trusted-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/donna-tartt-391_human-heart_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2973501.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/donna-tartt-391_human-heart_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2973501.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/donna-tartt-391_human-heart_what-if-one-happens-to-be-possessed-of-a_2973501.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own…” — Donna Tartt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/", "name": "Possessed Heart Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bb/anonymous-1_body_like-our-bodies-and-like-our-desires-the_587085.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 8 Possessed Heart quotes by 5 authors. Discover the best Possessed Heart sayings and thoughts.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Possessed Heart Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessed-heart/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```