--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I suppose the most radical part of my…" description: "\"I suppose the most radical part of my teaching at present is that love is not a feeling. Everybody suffers from love, or the fear of it, or the lack of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/barry-long-17514_affair_i-suppose-the-most-radical-part-of-my-te_2387633.png" --- # I suppose the most radical part of my teaching at present… ![“I suppose the most radical part of my teaching at present is that love is not a feeling. Everybody suffers from love, or the fear of it, or the lack of it. Why? Why is love so universally and inevitably heart-breaking, whether it be through the end of a love affair, the death of a loved one or…” quote by Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/barry-long-17514_affair_i-suppose-the-most-radical-part-of-my-te_2387633.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/barry-long-17514_affair_i-suppose-the-most-radical-part-of-my-te_2387633.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/barry-long-17514_affair_i-suppose-the-most-radical-part-of-my-te_2387633.png) > “I suppose the most radical part of my teaching at present is that love is not a feeling. Everybody suffers from love, or the fear of it, or the lack of it. Why? Why is love so universally and inevitably heart-breaking, whether it be through the end of a love affair, the death of a loved one or being locked in with the habitual casualness or grim indifference of a partner? The answer is because we've been taught and conditioned by the world to believe that love is a feeling.” [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is a relational practice, not a fleeting emotion; suffering arises when we treat it as a feeling to be owned or avoided. **In simple terms:** Love is an action, not a feeling. Key Takeaway Treat love as a practice, not a feeling. Themes relationships suffering conditioning emotion mindfulness Mood reflective empathetic introspective Type advice philosophical psychological When to use this quote - romantic breakup - grief counseling - relationship therapy - personal growth - mindful parenting Key Concepts attachment theory existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice love as a daily action? - What habits reinforce love as a feeling? A Different Perspective Treating love as a feeling can lead to disappointment and avoidance of deeper connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affair/) [Death of a loved one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-of-a-loved-one/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Indifference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifference/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love affair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-affair/) [Loved ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loved-ones/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/all-the-wild-world-is-beautiful-and-it-matters-but-little-where-we-go/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [I want not to love him, not even I forget. Love is worship real, but only if we met?? They say body is soil,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/i-want-not-to-love-him-not-even-i-forget-love-is-worship-real-but/) Senoraroy > [Hate cannot destroy hate, but love can and does. Not the soft and negative thing that has carried the name and misrepresented the emotion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-a-poling/hate-cannot-destroy-hate-but-love-can-and-does-not-the-soft-and/) Daniel A. Poling > [Love is not a feeling; it's a sensation. Drinking water when you're thirsty is a sensation, not a feeling. Being in nature or swimming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/love-is-not-a-feeling-it-s-a-sensation-drinking-water-when-you-re/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [Try not to cry too much because it can be pretty heart-breaking and pretty hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-smith/try-not-to-cry-too-much-because-it-can-be-pretty-heart-breaking-and/) [Maggie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-smith/) > [“The walk felt long, but I kept telling my lungs to shut up, that they were strong, that they could do this. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-walk-felt-long-but-i-kept-telling-my-lungs-to-shut-up-that-they/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [So now I know. I fear the unknown so deeply that I'd rather repeat the same heart-breaking pattern than face something or someone I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-estelle-frankel/so-now-i-know-i-fear-the-unknown-so-deeply-that-i-d-rather-repeat-the/) [Valerie Estelle Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-estelle-frankel/) > [It is hard to like a friend, it's harder to like a friend which you know doesn't like you back. however it is heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padraig/it-is-hard-to-like-a-friend-it-s-harder-to-like-a-friend-which-you/) [Padraig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padraig/) > [Life is hard, Love is heart breaking, people are mean hurtful and will back stab you in the back but no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney/life-is-hard-love-is-heart-breaking-people-are-mean-hurtful-and-will/) [Sydney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney/) > [When I write about "realizations," I am describing a state in which a practitioner has wisdom of who she or he is, and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-targ/when-i-write-about-realizations-i-am-describing-a-state-in-which-a/) Russell Targ > [You can smile when your heart is breaking because you're a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/you-can-smile-when-your-heart-is-breaking-because-you-re-a-woman/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [It only lasted 4months but those months were intense, we were amazing 2 begin with, then we were in deep & nearer the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-shipman/it-only-lasted-4months-but-those-months-were-intense-we-were-amazing/) [Samantha Shipman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-shipman/) > [Make your past to be forgiven in peace. Forget thy heart breaking moments you had to go through. God will heal you out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bigheartedperson/make-your-past-to-be-forgiven-in-peace-forget-thy-heart-breaking/) BigHeartedPerson > [“My longtime broken heart was breaking again, shattering, falling to pieces and disintegrating. And in its place was a brand new heart. Like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-sheehan/my-longtime-broken-heart-was-breaking-again-shattering-falling-to/) [Madeline Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-sheehan/) > [I broke my heart by breaking yours. who knew... Every action of mine that made you cry , killed me Inside Every Argument I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-loveable/i-broke-my-heart-by-breaking-yours-who-knew-every-action-of-mine-that/) [Arjun Loveable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-loveable/) ## More by Barry Long > [Love is all around you like the air and is the very breath of your being. But you cannot know it, feel its unfeeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/love-is-all-around-you-like-the-air-and-is-the-very-breath-of-your/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [No religion knows the truth. Only he or she who lives it knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/no-religion-knows-the-truth-only-he-or-she-who-lives-it-knows/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [We can rarely see things from the point of view of another person because we look at the facts through the screen of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/we-can-rarely-see-things-from-the-point-of-view-of-another-person/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [The more you observe life in relation to yourself the more you will see the fact that you are hardly ever correct when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/the-more-you-observe-life-in-relation-to-yourself-the-more-you-will/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [You can't realise love or yourself until you are still enough to drop down through the restlessness and frustrations into that deeper level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/you-can-t-realise-love-or-yourself-until-you-are-still-enough-to-drop/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [Love is the state of enlightenment and enlightenment is the state of love. 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We do that by looking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/the-only-way-we-can-ever-get-through-to-the-truth-is-by-finding-out/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [To experience beauty, love, truth and peace, or God, your mind has to be stilled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/to-experience-beauty-love-truth-and-peace-or-god-your-mind-has-to-be/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [The whole purpose of existence is to bring love into existence where it is needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/the-whole-purpose-of-existence-is-to-bring-love-into-existence-where/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [Any product of the mind is a reaction of the past, a synthesis of what is old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/any-product-of-the-mind-is-a-reaction-of-the-past-a-synthesis-of-what/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [Nothing is true in self-discovery unless it is true in your own experience. This is the only protection against the robot levels of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/nothing-is-true-in-self-discovery-unless-it-is-true-in-your-own/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [Anything that is said is not the truth. It is a statement of truth, and no statement is the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/anything-that-is-said-is-not-the-truth-it-is-a-statement-of-truth-and/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [We are the intelligence that has evolved in time out of the space and matter of the solar system, and specifically the earth¦](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/we-are-the-intelligence-that-has-evolved-in-time-out-of-the-space-and/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) > [When you observe yourself you must not condemn or approve what you see. If you tell a lie there is no need to judge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/when-you-observe-yourself-you-must-not-condemn-or-approve-what-you/) [Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) [Explore all 37 Barry Long quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/) ## More Affair quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. 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Of course, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/for-a-young-man-to-start-his-career-with-a-love-affair-with-an-older/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) > [As long as the state permits itself to interfere in the affairs of literature, literature has the right to interfere with the affairs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/as-long-as-the-state-permits-itself-to-interfere-in-the-affairs-of/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. 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