--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The deeper reality is that I’m not sure…" description: "\"The deeper reality is that I’m not sure if what I do is real. I usually believe that I’m certain about how I feel, but that seems naive. How do we know..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/chuck-klosterman-804_believe_the-deeper-reality-is-that-i-m-not-sure_1766189.jpg" --- # The deeper reality is that I’m not sure if what I do is… ![“The deeper reality is that I’m not sure if what I do is real. I usually believe that I’m certain about how I feel, but that seems naive. How do we know how we feel?…There is almost certainly a constructed schism between (a) how I feel, and (b) how I think I feel. There’s probably a third level…” quote by Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/chuck-klosterman-804_believe_the-deeper-reality-is-that-i-m-not-sure_1766189.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/chuck-klosterman-804_believe_the-deeper-reality-is-that-i-m-not-sure_1766189.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/chuck-klosterman-804_believe_the-deeper-reality-is-that-i-m-not-sure_1766189.jpg) > “The deeper reality is that I’m not sure if what I do is real. I usually believe that I’m certain about how I feel, but that seems naive. How do we know how we feel?…There is almost certainly a constructed schism between (a) how I feel, and (b) how I think I feel. There’s probably a third level, too—how I want to think I feel.” [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote questions the reliability of our feelings, noting a gap between felt emotion, thought, and desired feeling. **In simple terms:** Feelings, thoughts, and desires often conflict. Key Takeaway Question your emotional assumptions. Themes self‑awareness perception identity uncertainty Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - mental health - artistic expression - relationship dynamics Key Concepts philosophy cognitive science Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate genuine feeling from imagined? - What role does desire play in shaping emotions? A Different Perspective Self‑analysis can be paralyzing; over‑thinking may hinder action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Schism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schism/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Physically, I feel probably as good as I've ever felt. 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I think I will feel nothing forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/i-feel-no-peace-i-feel-nothing-i-think-i-will-feel-nothing-forever/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [Lay off with the 'You reason, so you don't feel' stuff, please. I feel, but I also think about what I feel. When people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/lay-off-with-the-you-reason-so-you-don-t-feel-stuff-please-i-feel-but/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Most of our mistakes happen because we think when we should feel, and feel when we should think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-of-our-mistakes-happen-because-we-think-when-we-should-feel-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This is the same path that I know so well, that I've walked hundreds of times, but today, all I can think is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-yeh/this-is-the-same-path-that-i-know-so-well-that-i-ve-walked-hundreds/) [Kat Yeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-yeh/) > [I feel probably more feminine when I'm around other men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-gladstone/i-feel-probably-more-feminine-when-i-m-around-other-men/) [Lily Gladstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-gladstone/) > [Turning 50 is a little bit of a 'taking stock' moment. I feel probably a little dumber. I don't think I'm as sharp as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flea/turning-50-is-a-little-bit-of-a-taking-stock-moment-i-feel-probably-a/) [Flea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flea/) > [One thing I've learned in all these years is not to make love when you really don't feel it; there's probably nothing worse you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/one-thing-i-ve-learned-in-all-these-years-is-not-to-make-love-when/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/the-gates-of-hell-shall-not-prevail-against-it/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [“the sixteenth-century schism was really a belated revolt of the thirteenth-century pessimists.  It was a back-wash of the old Augustinian Puritanism against the Aristotelian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-sixteenth-century-schism-was-really-a-belated-revolt-of-the/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [The Doxology ... that testimonial to the Platonic Trinity, which divided the Roman Empire into at least eighteen quarreling sects, none of whom knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-hurmence-green/the-doxology-that-testimonial-to-the-platonic-trinity-which-divided/) [Ruth Hurmence Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-hurmence-green/) > [Books of apostates, heretics, schismatics, and all other writers defending heresy or schism or in any attacking the foundations of religion, are altogether prohibited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/books-of-apostates-heretics-schismatics-and-all-other-writers/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [All -isms end up in schisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/all-isms-end-up-in-schisms/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) ## More by Chuck Klosterman > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [“I suppose we'll never know what really happened in that room, though he did tell police, "I did it because I'm a dirty dog."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/i-suppose-we-ll-never-know-what-really-happened-in-that-room-though/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [Do you know people who insist they like 'all kinds of music'? 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And if you do that convincingly enough, others will love you too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/first-you-must-love-yourself-and-if-you-do-that-convincingly-enough/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [Anyone who claims to be good at lying is obviously bad at lying. Thus - as a writer myself - I cannot comment on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/anyone-who-claims-to-be-good-at-lying-is-obviously-bad-at-lying-thus/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [“I care about strangers when they're abstractions but feel almost nothing when they are literally in front of me. 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Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The deeper reality is that I’m not sure if what I do is real. I usually believe that I’m certain about how I feel, but that seems naive. How do we know how we feel?…There is almost certainly a constructed schism between (a) how I feel, and (b) how I think I feel. 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