---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not our exalted feelings, it is our…"
description: "\"It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.\" — Elizabeth Bowen"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png"
---

#  It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that…

![“It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.” quote by Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png)

> “It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.”

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

## 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 emphasizes that practical emotions and everyday sentiments, rather than lofty ideals, construct the foundations of our lives.

**In simple terms:** Sentiments shape our reality.

Key Takeaway

Everyday feelings build our world.

Themes

practicality emotional intelligence home building values human experience

Mood

reflective grounded thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- family life
- community development
- personal relationships
- career decisions

Key Concepts

sentiment vs feeling construction of meaning personal foundations

Practical Applications

- guiding personal values
- designing supportive environments

Questions to Reflect On

- What everyday sentiments guide your actions?
- How do you distinguish between lofty ideals and practical feelings?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Emotions feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions-feelings/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Sentiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentiments/)

## Related quotes

> [“It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home. The need to attach themselves makes wandering people strike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the-2/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [A country whose culture is based on nonviolence will find it necessary to have every home as much self-contained as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-country-whose-culture-is-based-on-nonviolence-will-find-it/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [I believed that I was approaching the end of my days without having tasted to the full any of the pleasures for which my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-believed-that-i-was-approaching-the-end-of-my-days-without-having/)

[Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/)

> [Poems infatuated with their own smarts and detached from any emotional grounding can leave the reader feeling lonely, empty and ashamed for having expected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/poems-infatuated-with-their-own-smarts-and-detached-from-any/)

[Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/)

> [“Can we be sure that they are incapable of the feelings or sentiments that are believed to place them on a lower scale than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-longgood/can-we-be-sure-that-they-are-incapable-of-the-feelings-or-sentiments/)

William Longgood

> [Tell me how to recognize/get idea if ONE is playing with me/my emotions/my feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/tell-me-how-to-recognize-get-idea-if-one-is-playing-with-me-my/)

Mak\_786

> [When you're busy blocking out difficult emotions and feelings, you're not going to feel the good stuff, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-bertinelli/when-you-re-busy-blocking-out-difficult-emotions-and-feelings-you-re/)

[Valerie Bertinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-bertinelli/)

> [“We should start questioning the definitions we assign to our emotions. Just because other people have assigned a certain name to an emotion doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-jacinta-mpalyenkana-ph-d-mba/we-should-start-questioning-the-definitions-we-assign-to-our-emotions/)

[Dr. Jacinta Mpalyenkana, Ph.D, MBA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-jacinta-mpalyenkana-ph-d-mba/)

> [Anyone who has a dog knows that they have some very deep thoughts, that they have moods and emotions, they get their feelings hurt.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/anyone-who-has-a-dog-knows-that-they-have-some-very-deep-thoughts/)

[Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/)

> [Missing someone has to be one of the worst human emotions. All the other feelings like anger and fear and horror get some much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/missing-someone-has-to-be-one-of-the-worst-human-emotions-all-the/)

[Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/)

> [I was an emotional manipulator of fighters . . . You have to know how to be cold, you know? Just have no -emotions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-was-an-emotional-manipulator-of-fighters-you-have-to-know-how-to-be/)

[Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/)

> [WE CAN'T EXPRESS TRUE LOVE INTO WORDS, THE TRUE LOVE IS SHOW IN OUR EMOTIONS AND OUR FEELINGS.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanju-goyal/we-can-t-express-true-love-into-words-the-true-love-is-show-in-our/)

[SANJU GOYAL](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanju-goyal/)

> [The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/the-truth-even-though-i-cannot-feel-it-right-now-is-that-i-am-the/)

[Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/)

> [We cannot discipline our emotions. Our feelings, whether positive or negative, only tell us what kind of thoughts we are thinking at the moment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-randymar/we-cannot-discipline-our-emotions-our-feelings-whether-positive-or/)

[Joel Randymar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-randymar/)

> [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/)

[Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/)

## More by Elizabeth Bowen

> [Temperamentally, the writer exists on happenings, on contacts, conflicts, action and reaction, speed, pressure, tension. Were he acontemplative purely, he would not write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/temperamentally-the-writer-exists-on-happenings-on-contacts-conflicts/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [“Are you really an orphan? Yes, I am, said Portia a shade shortly. Are you? No, not at present, but I suppose it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/are-you-really-an-orphan-yes-i-am-said-portia-a-shade-shortly-are-you/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [Every love has a poetic relevance of its own; each love brings to light only what to it is relevant. Outside lies the junk-yard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/every-love-has-a-poetic-relevance-of-its-own-each-love-brings-to/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [without fiction, either life would be insufficient or the winds from the north would blow too cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/without-fiction-either-life-would-be-insufficient-or-the-winds-from/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [One's sentiments -- call them that -- one's fidelities are so instinctive that one hardly knows they exist: only when they are betrayed or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/one-s-sentiments-call-them-that-one-s-fidelities-are-so-instinctive/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [Only in a house where one has learnt to be lonely does one have this solicitude for things. One's relation to them, the daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/only-in-a-house-where-one-has-learnt-to-be-lonely-does-one-have-this/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [To walk into history is to be free at once, to be at large among people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/to-walk-into-history-is-to-be-free-at-once-to-be-at-large-among-people/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [The wish to lead out one's lover must be a tribal feeling; the wish to be seen as loved is part of one's self-respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/the-wish-to-lead-out-one-s-lover-must-be-a-tribal-feeling-the-wish-to/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [Convention was our safeguard: could one have stronger?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/convention-was-our-safeguard-could-one-have-stronger/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [“First love, with its frantic haughty imagination, swings its object clear of the everyday, over the rut of living, making him all looks, silences,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/first-love-with-its-frantic-haughty-imagination-swings-its-object/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [to leap is not only to leap, it is to hit the ground somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/to-leap-is-not-only-to-leap-it-is-to-hit-the-ground-somewhere/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [That is partly why women marry - to keep up the fiction of being in the hub of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/that-is-partly-why-women-marry-to-keep-up-the-fiction-of-being-in-the/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [“But Miss Pym gave an impression, somehow, of having been attacked from within .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/but-miss-pym-gave-an-impression-somehow-of-having-been-attacked-from/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [rudeness to Mrs. Dosely was like dropping a pat of butter on to a hot plate - it slid and melted away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/rudeness-to-mrs-dosely-was-like-dropping-a-pat-of-butter-on-to-a-hot/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

> [“The happy passive nature, locked up with itself like a mirror in an airy room, reflects what goes on but demands not to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/the-happy-passive-nature-locked-up-with-itself-like-a-mirror-in-an/)

[Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

[Explore all 275 Elizabeth Bowen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/)

## More Emotion quotes

> [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/)

[Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/)

> [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/)

[Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/)

> [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/)

Marlin

> [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/)

[Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/)

> [“Emotion as well as reason belongs to the very stuff of history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-smalley/emotion-as-well-as-reason-belongs-to-the-very-stuff-of-history/)

Beryl Smalley

> [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/)

Ryan Newman

> [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/)

[Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/)

> [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/)

[Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/)

> [People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them. They may forget what you said, but they will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them/)

[Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/)

> [There cannot be any communication except through form. If there is no form, you cannot create emotion in the spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/there-cannot-be-any-communication-except-through-form-if-there-is-no/)

[Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/)

> [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [ Music \[is\] the third rail of life. You grabbed it to shock yourself out of the dull drag of hours. To feel something. To… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/music-is-the-third-rail-of-life-you-grabbed-it-to-shock-yourself-out/)

[Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/)

> [“What if each time you experienced an emotion, you acknowledged it, accepted it, and became curious about its message for you (instead of trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/what-if-each-time-you-experienced-an-emotion-you-acknowledged-it/)

[Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/)

> [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/)

[Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/)

> [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/)

[Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/)

[Browse all 7,204 Emotion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Elizabeth Bowen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Emotion"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/elizabeth-bowen-1197_emotion_it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our_77190.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.” — Elizabeth Bowen",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Elizabeth Bowen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "It is not our exalted feelings,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
