--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We feel something, and reach out for the…" description: "\"We feel something, and reach out for the nearest phrase or hum with which to communicate, but which fails to do justice to what has induced us to do so..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e26/alain-de-botton-221_casual_we-feel-something-and-reach-out-for-the_2589605.jpg" --- # We feel something, and reach out for the nearest phrase or… ![“We feel something, and reach out for the nearest phrase or hum with which to communicate, but which fails to do justice to what has induced us to do so…We stay on the outside of our impressions, as if staring at them through a frosted window, superficially related to them, yet estranged from…” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e26/alain-de-botton-221_casual_we-feel-something-and-reach-out-for-the_2589605.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e26/alain-de-botton-221_casual_we-feel-something-and-reach-out-for-the_2589605.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e26/alain-de-botton-221_casual_we-feel-something-and-reach-out-for-the_2589605.jpg) > “We feel something, and reach out for the nearest phrase or hum with which to communicate, but which fails to do justice to what has induced us to do so…We stay on the outside of our impressions, as if staring at them through a frosted window, superficially related to them, yet estranged from whatever has eluded casual definition.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often try to label feelings with words, but language can’t fully capture the depth of our inner experience. **In simple terms:** Words fall short of true feeling. Key Takeaway Seek deeper understanding beyond words. Themes communication perception emotion Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - artistic expression - therapy - mindfulness Key Concepts phenomenology subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How can we better convey inner states? - What non‑verbal ways express what words cannot? A Different Perspective Language may oversimplify complex emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) ## Related quotes > [The problem is maddening. 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Your own frailty and might.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ripley-patton/what-do-you-feel-when-you-reach-into-yourself-your-own-strength-and/) [Ripley Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ripley-patton/) > [“For an instant I feel him reach for me, and all I want is to lean against him, let him wrap me up, keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amie-kaufman/for-an-instant-i-feel-him-reach-for-me-and-all-i-want-is-to-lean/) [Amie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amie-kaufman/) > [The great effort of civilization has been, and still is, the attempt to introduce a principle of control into that casual swarm of impressions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/the-great-effort-of-civilization-has-been-and-still-is-the-attempt-to/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [“We are each a work in progress—special and unique. By learning and living the “Art of First Impressions,” you can design a masterpiece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-are-each-a-work-in-progress-special-and-unique-by-learning-and/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [Everybody searches for a chance to impress other. But they don't understands, That impressions are made by very casual happening...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/everybody-searches-for-a-chance-to-impress-other-but-they-don-t/) Pacifiersucker > [“The earliest impressions are pictographic in form - little pictures that are the stylized versions of the things they represent. And most things they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-godsen/the-earliest-impressions-are-pictographic-in-form-little-pictures/) Chris Godsen > [What we have to do is to be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/what-we-have-to-do-is-to-be-forever-curiously-testing-new-opinions/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [“Good first impressions…are good for business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cs-edit/good-first-impressions-are-good-for-business/) CS-Edit > [“Imagination is a holy impressions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/imagination-is-a-holy-impressions/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [History never exactly repeats itself, but it does some rather good impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dean/history-never-exactly-repeats-itself-but-it-does-some-rather-good/) [John Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dean/) > [I don't do impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-don-t-do-impressions/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Casual quotes > [I love Christopher Bailey and Burberry, Mulberry for bags, and Hudson for jeans. 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Feel out your office!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lafleur/every-office-interprets-business-casual-differently-feel-out-your/) [Sarah Lafleur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lafleur/) > [I spend the majority of my time in the office and I usually wear a casual bandage dress and flip-flops or slippers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huda-kattan/i-spend-the-majority-of-my-time-in-the-office-and-i-usually-wear-a/) [Huda Kattan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huda-kattan/) > [My days among the dead are passed; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/my-days-among-the-dead-are-passed-around-me-i-behold-where-er-these/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The difference with Cleveland is that the racial tension was not a casual taste of it. It was outlandish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-howard/the-difference-with-cleveland-is-that-the-racial-tension-was-not-a/) [Terrence Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-howard/) > [Daily fervent prayers seeking forgiveness and special help and direction are essential to our lives and the nourishment of our testimonies. When we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-l-staheli/daily-fervent-prayers-seeking-forgiveness-and-special-help-and/) Donald L. Staheli > [Even a casual observer can see that not one of the systems, institutions, and devices that our species has put into place on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/even-a-casual-observer-can-see-that-not-one-of-the-systems/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Have you told Eric and the rest of them that—” “That I’m a vampire? 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