--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most people are heartless about turtles…" description: "\"Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/ernest-hemingway-83_beats_most-people-are-heartless-about-turtles_2961875.jpg" --- # Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's… ![“Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too and my feet and hands are like theirs.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/ernest-hemingway-83_beats_most-people-are-heartless-about-turtles_2961875.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/ernest-hemingway-83_beats_most-people-are-heartless-about-turtles_2961875.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/ernest-hemingway-83_beats_most-people-are-heartless-about-turtles_2961875.jpg) > “Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too and my feet and hands are like theirs.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People ignore suffering of turtles; the old man sees his own heart in theirs, feeling empathy. **In simple terms:** Empathy arises when we recognize shared vulnerability. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy by seeing yourself in others. Themes compassion environment self‑reflection Mood thoughtful empathetic Type ethical humanitarian When to use this quote - wildlife conservation - personal grief - community service Key Concepts ethics animal rights Questions to Reflect On - How can you extend empathy to unseen beings? - What barriers block your compassion? A Different Perspective Empathy can be limited by personal bias or distance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beats/) [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heartless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heartless/) [Heartless Turtles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heartless-turtles-3602699/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Are Heartless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-are-heartless-220355/) [Turtle Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turtle-heart-3602698/) [Turtles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turtles/) [Turtles Turtle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turtles-turtle-4516099/) ## Related quotes > [Most people were heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after it has been cut up and butchered. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/most-people-were-heartless-about-turtles-because-a-turtle-s-heart/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [In the middle of a conversation, she'll frequently say something like, "Young people are heartless, they don't have any respect anymore." I nod agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-tamaro/in-the-middle-of-a-conversation-she-ll-frequently-say-something-like/) [Susanna Tamaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-tamaro/) > [It's okay to play turtle for a while, as long as you don't get too fond of your shell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-wilks/it-s-okay-to-play-turtle-for-a-while-as-long-as-you-don-t-get-too/) [Eileen Wilks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-wilks/) > [“I don't mind running with turtles. From book: stuff I think about By Sondra Faye”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sondra-faye/i-don-t-mind-running-with-turtles-from-book-stuff-i-think-about-by/) [Sondra Faye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sondra-faye/) > [Did I ever tell you my pet peeve?' No,' I said. People who dress up their pets to look like Little Lord Fauntleroys or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/did-i-ever-tell-you-my-pet-peeve-no-i-said-people-who-dress-up-their/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“Your brother?" St. Clair points above my bed to the only picture I've hung up. 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Maybe sometimes against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-goode/i-kept-a-few-turtles-and-tortoises-and-maybe-a-snake-in-my-apartment/) [Eric Goode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-goode/) > [I have this awareness that the more dynamic the situation is, the more on guard I need to be that the dynamic isn't controlling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/i-have-this-awareness-that-the-more-dynamic-the-situation-is-the-more/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/now-you-see-said-the-turtle-drifting-back-into-the-pond-why-it-is/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Rabbits are played. Nowadays it's all about the turtles. Tell them it's a ninja, they'll freak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/rabbits-are-played-nowadays-it-s-all-about-the-turtles-tell-them-it-s/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [Be like the turtle. If he didn't stick his neck out, he wouldn't get anywhere at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/be-like-the-turtle-if-he-didn-t-stick-his-neck-out-he-wouldn-t-get/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [“I wonder about turtles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/i-wonder-about-turtles/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [My favorite superheroes when I was younger were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and they still are. Simply because they rule and you've got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reeves/my-favorite-superheroes-when-i-was-younger-were-the-teenage-mutant/) [Jason Reeves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reeves/) > [The two are unrelated. I'm not into turtles or space stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-connick-jr/the-two-are-unrelated-i-m-not-into-turtles-or-space-stuff/) [Harry Connick, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-connick-jr/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. 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There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Beats 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/) > [So many things beat upon us in a lifetime that simply enduring may seem almost beyond us… But the test a loving God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/so-many-things-beat-upon-us-in-a-lifetime-that-simply-enduring-may/) [Henry B. 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Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [If you don't like club beats take a HIT OF E and you will love the music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/if-you-don-t-like-club-beats-take-a-hit-of-e-and-you-will-love-the/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [Every pitcher can beat you, it doesn't matter how good you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-bonds/every-pitcher-can-beat-you-it-doesn-t-matter-how-good-you-are/) [Barry Bonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-bonds/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) [Chaz Brenchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-brenchley/) > [Practice to beat the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-bennett/practice-to-beat-the-best/) [Dick Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-bennett/) > [I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know in our region everyone is gunning to beat us. 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