--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So far, about morals, I know only that…" description: "\"“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after and judged by these st..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg" --- # So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is… ![“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after and judged by these standards, which I do not defend, the bullfight is very normal to me because I feel very fine while it is going on and have a feeling of life and…” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg) > ““So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after and judged by these standards, which I do not defend, the bullfight is very normal to me because I feel very fine while it is going on and have a feeling of life and death and mortality and immortality, and after it is over I feel very sad but also very fine.”” [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. Morality is judged by personal feelings; actions like bullfighting feel right to some, yet cause mixed emotions afterward. **In simple terms:** Morality is based on personal feelings, not universal standards. Key Takeaway Question your own moral feelings. Themes morality subjectivity emotion Mood introspective conflicted Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal decision making - cultural practices - emotional processing Key Concepts ethical relativism psychology of feeling Questions to Reflect On - Do your feelings align with broader ethical norms? - Can you separate emotion from moral judgment? A Different Perspective Personal feelings may be unreliable guides for ethical decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-death/) [Morals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morals/) ## Related quotes > [“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/about-morals-i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Among the innumerable books on Addy’s shelves was one by Ernest Hemingway in which I found these words: ‘What is moral is what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-reid-banks/among-the-innumerable-books-on-addy-s-shelves-was-one-by-ernest/) [Lynne Reid Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-reid-banks/) > [you may call a person vain, and they will smile; you may call them immoral, and they may even feel flattered - but call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-buckrose/you-may-call-a-person-vain-and-they-will-smile-you-may-call-them/) [J. E. Buckrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-buckrose/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“When we do a moral act to offset an immoral one, we are engaged in “moral cleansing.” When we do nothing, or perhaps something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-disalvo/when-we-do-a-moral-act-to-offset-an-immoral-one-we-are-engaged-in/) [David DiSalvo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-disalvo/) > [Go through the moral demands...one by one and you will find that man could not live up to them; the intention is not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/go-through-the-moral-demands-one-by-one-and-you-will-find-that-man/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Some people are so moral they feel like they have no need for Jesus. True worshippers know they are in deep need of Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-chandler/some-people-are-so-moral-they-feel-like-they-have-no-need-for-jesus/) [Matt Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-chandler/) > [Kids can sniff out a moral. They can feel the heavy hand of an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-kinney/kids-can-sniff-out-a-moral-they-can-feel-the-heavy-hand-of-an-adult/) [Jeff Kinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-kinney/) > [“People become desensitized to many things going on around them. It is because they always see it on the tv, hear it on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amaka-imani-nkosazana/people-become-desensitized-to-many-things-going-on-around-them-it-is/) [Amaka Imani Nkosazana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amaka-imani-nkosazana/) > [Nature consists of facts and of regularities, and is in itself neither moral nor immoral. It is we who impose our standards upon nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nature-consists-of-facts-and-of-regularities-and-is-in-itself-neither/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I am choosing the bear every time unless we can explicitly state that it is in a man's true nature to do the malicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niedria-d-kenny/i-am-choosing-the-bear-every-time-unless-we-can-explicitly-state-that/) [Niedria D. Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niedria-d-kenny/) > [“Many a survivor of a plane crash who is or was against cannibalism and had never eaten human flesh once found themselves in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/many-a-survivor-of-a-plane-crash-who-is-or-was-against-cannibalism/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## 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. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. 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." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. 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 Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [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/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after and judged by these standards, which I do not defend, the bullfight is very normal to me because I feel very fine while it is going on and have a feeling of life and death and mortality and immortality, and after it is over I feel very sad but also very fine.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Hemingway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/ernest-hemingway-83_character_so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-wha_1734932.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what…” — Ernest Hemingway", "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": "Ernest Hemingway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So far, about morals, I know...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/so-far-about-morals-i-know-only-that-what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-2/#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 } } ] } ```