--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People are able to live with only half a…" description: "\"People are able to live with only half a heart, to live without real compassion, because they are able to use words that are only forms.\" — Angus Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/180/angus-wilson-29067_able_people-are-able-to-live-with-only-half-a_804025.png" --- # People are able to live with only half a heart, to live… ![“People are able to live with only half a heart, to live without real compassion, because they are able to use words that are only forms.” quote by Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/180/angus-wilson-29067_able_people-are-able-to-live-with-only-half-a_804025.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/180/angus-wilson-29067_able_people-are-able-to-live-with-only-half-a_804025.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/180/angus-wilson-29067_able_people-are-able-to-live-with-only-half-a_804025.png) > “People are able to live with only half a heart, to live without real compassion, because they are able to use words that are only forms.” [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People can survive physically and emotionally by using superficial language instead of genuine compassion. **In simple terms:** Superficial words replace true empathy. Key Takeaway Cultivate authentic communication. Themes compassion communication authenticity Mood reflective serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - leadership - mental health - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology emotional health Questions to Reflect On - How can you foster deeper empathy in conversations? - What barriers prevent authentic expression? A Different Perspective Words alone cannot heal deep emotional wounds. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know what to do now that we're apart; I don't know how to live without the other half of my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-miz/i-don-t-know-what-to-do-now-that-we-re-apart-i-don-t-know-how-to-live/) Andrea Miz > [An important aspect of self-compassion is to be able to empathically hold both parts of ourselves-the self that regrets a past action and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/an-important-aspect-of-self-compassion-is-to-be-able-to-empathically/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [“Compassion, in an ideal sense, is your ability to put yourself in other people’s shoes regardless of what they look like, regardless of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-king/compassion-in-an-ideal-sense-is-your-ability-to-put-yourself-in-other/) [Patrick King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-king/) > [“Through mindfully practising love and compassion we are able to heal our hearts and minds from our hurt and suffering, thus bringing harmony into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dines/through-mindfully-practising-love-and-compassion-we-are-able-to-heal/) [Christopher Dines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dines/) > [A bodhisattva is someone who has compassion within himself or herself and who is able to make another person smile or help someone suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/a-bodhisattva-is-someone-who-has-compassion-within-himself-or-herself/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [If you don't love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/if-you-don-t-love-yourself-you-cannot-love-others-you-will-not-be/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [I spent a million years looking for you and all I got is half of my heart for you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meow/i-spent-a-million-years-looking-for-you-and-all-i-got-is-half-of-my/) [Meow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meow/) > [I intend to live the first half of my life. I don't care about the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-flynn/i-intend-to-live-the-first-half-of-my-life-i-don-t-care-about-the-rest/) [Errol Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-flynn/) > [We only half live when we only half think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-only-half-live-when-we-only-half-think/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“no man will ever be willing to live a half-life when he has once seen that it is a half-life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/no-man-will-ever-be-willing-to-live-a-half-life-when-he-has-once-seen/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [I would say I live half in New York and half in Claridge's. How decadent! How hysterical!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-o-connor/i-would-say-i-live-half-in-new-york-and-half-in-claridge-s-how/) [Erin O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-o-connor/) > [“Phillips Brooks used to say that after a man has once discovered that he has been living but a half-life the other half will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/phillips-brooks-used-to-say-that-after-a-man-has-once-discovered-that/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The other half of yourself,” Alex said. “You're only allowing half of yourself to live and the other half – the half you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-lister/the-other-half-of-yourself-alex-said-you-re-only-allowing-half-of/) [Ann Lister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-lister/) > [I always go back to Italy for holidays because I live half my life on the island of Sardinia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-d-acampo/i-always-go-back-to-italy-for-holidays-because-i-live-half-my-life-on/) [Gino D'Acampo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-d-acampo/) > [“Biblical orthodoxy can offer real compassion, because in our struggle against sin, we cannot undermine God's power to change lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosaria-champagne-butterfield/biblical-orthodoxy-can-offer-real-compassion-because-in-our-struggle/) [Rosaria Champagne Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosaria-champagne-butterfield/) ## More by Angus Wilson > [I have no concern for the common man except that he should not be so common.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/i-have-no-concern-for-the-common-man-except-that-he-should-not-be-so/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [Envy has the ugliness of a trapped rat that has gnawed its own foot in its effort to escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/envy-has-the-ugliness-of-a-trapped-rat-that-has-gnawed-its-own-foot/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [I opened the large central window of my office room to its full on the fine early May morning. Then I stood for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/i-opened-the-large-central-window-of-my-office-room-to-its-full-on/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [Once a Catholic always a Catholic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/once-a-catholic-always-a-catholic/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [Life isn't just to be found, you have to work for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/life-isn-t-just-to-be-found-you-have-to-work-for-it/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [“...Life can't be put on paper in all its complexity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/life-can-t-be-put-on-paper-in-all-its-complexity/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [“Between Margaret's fine edged art and Glady's rough simplicity, where did the greater feminine solace lie? True art, after all, is simple.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/between-margaret-s-fine-edged-art-and-glady-s-rough-simplicity-where/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [All the seven deadly sins are self destroying, morbid appetites, but in their early stages at least, lust and gluttony, averice and sloth know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/all-the-seven-deadly-sins-are-self-destroying-morbid-appetites-but-in/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [The novelist must be his own most harsh critic and also his own most loving admirer and about both he must say nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/the-novelist-must-be-his-own-most-harsh-critic-and-also-his-own-most/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [The roots of art and play lie very close together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/the-roots-of-art-and-play-lie-very-close-together/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [The opportunities for heroism are limited in this kind of world: the most people can do is sometimes not to be as weak as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/the-opportunities-for-heroism-are-limited-in-this-kind-of-world-the/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [The impulse to write a novel comes from a momentary unified vision of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/the-impulse-to-write-a-novel-comes-from-a-momentary-unified-vision-of/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [“Fiction writing is a kind of magic. If I communicate the magic spell . . . it loses its force for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/fiction-writing-is-a-kind-of-magic-if-i-communicate-the-magic-spell/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [“ 'Youth is the time for loving, so poets always say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/youth-is-the-time-for-loving-so-poets-always-say/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) > [All fiction for me is a kind of magic and trickery, a confidence trick, trying to make people believe something is true that isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-wilson/all-fiction-for-me-is-a-kind-of-magic-and-trickery-a-confidence-trick/) [Angus Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) [Explore all 18 Angus Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-wilson/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. 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And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. 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