--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: *We give so little when it's in us always…" description: "\"*We give so little when it's in us always to give so much more. It's bothering to listen with an open heart to someone who smells bad. It's hard.\" — El..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79d/elizabeth-berg-853_bother_we-give-so-little-when-it-s-in-us-always_77250.jpg" --- # \*We give so little when it's in us always to give so much… ![“*We give so little when it's in us always to give so much more. It's bothering to listen with an open heart to someone who smells bad. It's hard.” quote by Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79d/elizabeth-berg-853_bother_we-give-so-little-when-it-s-in-us-always_77250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79d/elizabeth-berg-853_bother_we-give-so-little-when-it-s-in-us-always_77250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79d/elizabeth-berg-853_bother_we-give-so-little-when-it-s-in-us-always_77250.jpg) > “\*We give so little when it's in us always to give so much more. It's bothering to listen with an open heart to someone who smells bad. It's hard.” [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels constrained by internal limits, making it difficult to fully empathize with someone perceived as unpleasant. **In simple terms:** Self‑imposed limits hinder compassion. Key Takeaway Empathy requires effort beyond instinct. Themes self‑awareness empathy social discomfort personal growth Mood reflective empathetic Type observation reflection When to use this quote - conflict resolution - counseling - team dynamics - customer service Key Concepts emotional regulation bias listening Practical Applications - training on active listening - coaching for empathy Questions to Reflect On - How can we expand our capacity for compassion? - What habits reinforce our biases? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Open heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-heart/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) ## Related quotes > [“Listen with an open heart”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-brien/listen-with-an-open-heart/) [William O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-brien/) > [I always want to listen with an open mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-el-kaliouby/i-always-want-to-listen-with-an-open-mind/) [Rana el Kaliouby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rana-el-kaliouby/) > [I am someone who will listen and someone who has an open mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-berejiklian/i-am-someone-who-will-listen-and-someone-who-has-an-open-mind/) [Gladys Berejiklian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-berejiklian/) > [Listen with an open ear is the first, most important thing to do. From there, if people feel like learning more, that's when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anoushka-shankar/listen-with-an-open-ear-is-the-first-most-important-thing-to-do-from/) [Anoushka Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anoushka-shankar/) > [“Stories are only as good as the perspective they are heard from. Listen with an open mind, and the world will unfold before you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-jensen/stories-are-only-as-good-as-the-perspective-they-are-heard-from/) J B Jensen > [Listen, open a window to God and begin to delight yourself by gazing upon Him through the opening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/listen-open-a-window-to-god-and-begin-to-delight-yourself-by-gazing/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“West Wind #2 You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begin rowing. But listen to me. Without fanfare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/west-wind-2-you-are-young-so-you-know-everything-you-leap-into-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Praise from an enemy smells of craft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/praise-from-an-enemy-smells-of-craft/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [If the first bite is with the eye and the second with the nose, some people will never take that third, actual bite if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/if-the-first-bite-is-with-the-eye-and-the-second-with-the-nose-some/) [Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/) > [Who's this—alone with stone and sky? It's only my old dog and I— It's only him; it's only me; Alone with stone and grass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-sassoon/who-s-this-alone-with-stone-and-sky-it-s-only-my-old-dog-and-i-it-s/) [Siegfried Sassoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-sassoon/) > [Okay seriously.. to all you girls out there, after you give a blowjob to us don't try and kiss us alright? Your breath smells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-sakundiak/okay-seriously-to-all-you-girls-out-there-after-you-give-a-blowjob-to/) [Mitchell Sakundiak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-sakundiak/) > [ The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood \[p. 53\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/the-smells-of-christmas-are-the-smells-of-childhood-p-53/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [Don't you hate it when you get on a elevator and someone smells like they took a bath in perfume or cologne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jreyes/don-t-you-hate-it-when-you-get-on-a-elevator-and-someone-smells-like/) JREYES > [So, back home, I have an Iron Man shrine, basically. And one of the things in it is a bust of Iron Man's head,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iman-vellani/so-back-home-i-have-an-iron-man-shrine-basically-and-one-of-the/) [Iman Vellani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iman-vellani/) > [“There was a strange exciting smell in the air - the smell of wine, cigar smoke, and perfume, mingled with the scent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-was-a-strange-exciting-smell-in-the-air-the-smell-of-wine-cigar/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Elizabeth Berg > [Never be afraid of doing the thing you know in your heart is right, even if others don't agree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/never-be-afraid-of-doing-the-thing-you-know-in-your-heart-is-right/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [If there were a category in the Olympics for laundry, my mother would have been a gold-medal winner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/if-there-were-a-category-in-the-olympics-for-laundry-my-mother-would/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“If you say something over and over again, it begins to lose it's meaning... Say anything enough times and it becomes gibberish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/if-you-say-something-over-and-over-again-it-begins-to-lose-it-s/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“You know, sometimes marriage is iron. Sometimes it’s tissue paper. And I think the times it’s tissue paper are when you need to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/you-know-sometimes-marriage-is-iron-sometimes-it-s-tissue-paper-and-i/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“It's not that he doesn't smile; it's that if his smile were something you drew, you'd erase it, thinking, Wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/it-s-not-that-he-doesn-t-smile-it-s-that-if-his-smile-were-something/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [People say you should give until it hurts. I say you should give until it stops hurting. Know what I mean?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/people-say-you-should-give-until-it-hurts-i-say-you-should-give-until/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I should have said “powder room.” That would evoke the image of me sitting before a beautiful gold mirror, a vase of fresh flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-should-have-said-powder-room-that-would-evoke-the-image-of-me/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [Sometimes the best reading comes just by accident. Someone talks about a book, or you're just wandering the stacks in the library, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/sometimes-the-best-reading-comes-just-by-accident-someone-talks-about/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“I don’t think Martha’s so bad. I think I want her for a friend instead of you. When I look at her magazine, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-don-t-think-martha-s-so-bad-i-think-i-want-her-for-a-friend-instead/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [We're not just writers; we're readers probably more than anything else. That's how you learn how to write and how you learn to appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/we-re-not-just-writers-we-re-readers-probably-more-than-anything-else/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [I thought of the priest who'd told me that many religions hold that it is easier to be closely connected to people we love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-thought-of-the-priest-who-d-told-me-that-many-religions-hold-that/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“How is it that we dare to honk at others in traffic, when we know nothing about where they have just come from or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/how-is-it-that-we-dare-to-honk-at-others-in-traffic-when-we-know/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [The truth is, we usually only show our unhappiness to another woman. I suppose this is one of our problems. And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/the-truth-is-we-usually-only-show-our-unhappiness-to-another-woman-i/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [As for my 'real life,' yes, I do have friends who are different from me, and I find it refreshing being around them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/as-for-my-real-life-yes-i-do-have-friends-who-are-different-from-me/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) [Explore all 350 Elizabeth Berg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## More Bother quotes > [ Brad \[Dourif\] would tell himself that he was not intentionally trying to mimic Jack Nicholson in any way. 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When I was twenty I was living in New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-daum/i-ve-always-been-a-late-bloomer-in-some-ways-and-extremely-precocious/) [Meghan Daum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-daum/) > [“Shut up. Stand up. Put this on. That’s right . . . if you were the kind of man who found it easy to do that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/shut-up-stand-up-put-this-on-that-s-right-if-you-were-the-kind-of-man/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [We have reached the point where we can lose a game or two and not drop out of sight in the rankings. I've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lavell-edwards/we-have-reached-the-point-where-we-can-lose-a-game-or-two-and-not/) [LaVell Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lavell-edwards/) > [I've said I want the meanest, toughest SOB I can find to protect America. And so that's why Trump's tone doesn't bother me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jeffress/i-ve-said-i-want-the-meanest-toughest-sob-i-can-find-to-protect/) [Robert Jeffress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jeffress/) > [I was a loner as a child. I had an imaginary friend - I didn't bother with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-was-a-loner-as-a-child-i-had-an-imaginary-friend-i-didn-t-bother/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [This hype word bothers me though It always sounds like an accusation, what does it mean, advertising, column inches in the press? Bands themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-johnson/this-hype-word-bothers-me-though-it-always-sounds-like-an-accusation/) [Holly Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-johnson/) > [Our students wanted to know everything: but only the newest theory seemed to them worth bothering with. 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