--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The profoundest affinities are those most…" description: "\"The profoundest affinities are those most readily felt, and though a thousand later considerations may overlay and override them, they remain a backgro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/george-santayana-478_affinity_the-profoundest-affinities-are-those-mos_2741358.png" --- # The profoundest affinities are those most readily felt… ![“The profoundest affinities are those most readily felt, and though a thousand later considerations may overlay and override them, they remain a background and standard for all happiness. If we trace them out we succeed.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/george-santayana-478_affinity_the-profoundest-affinities-are-those-mos_2741358.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/george-santayana-478_affinity_the-profoundest-affinities-are-those-mos_2741358.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/george-santayana-478_affinity_the-profoundest-affinities-are-those-mos_2741358.png) > “The profoundest affinities are those most readily felt, and though a thousand later considerations may overlay and override them, they remain a background and standard for all happiness. If we trace them out we succeed.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deep connections shape happiness; even when later thoughts dominate, they stay the unseen foundation for joy. **In simple terms:** Core bonds guide happiness despite later thoughts. Key Takeaway Recognize and nurture your fundamental affinities. Themes happiness relationships inner truth Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - relationship building - conflict resolution - career choices Key Concepts philosophy psychology human nature Questions to Reflect On - How do you discover your deepest affinities? - What habits reveal your true sources of happiness? A Different Perspective These affinities can be obscured by rational analysis, making them hard to identify. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affinities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affinities-1497306/) [Affinities Readily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affinities-readily-1781563/) [Affinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affinity/) [Backgrounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backgrounds/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Trace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-trace-1734381/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Profoundest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profoundest-258113/) [Profoundest Affinities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profoundest-affinities-1781562/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [The profoundest affinities are those most readily felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-profoundest-affinities-are-those-most-readily-felt/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The profoundest affinities are the most readily felt; they remain a background and standard for all happiness and if we trace them out we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-profoundest-affinities-are-the-most-readily-felt-they-remain-a/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Embryology furnishes, also, the best measure of true affinities existing between animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-agassiz/embryology-furnishes-also-the-best-measure-of-true-affinities/) [Louis Agassiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-agassiz/) > [It is one thing to recognise certain potentially useful affinities, and another to act on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/it-is-one-thing-to-recognise-certain-potentially-useful-affinities/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [“Identifying leader category “affinities”: Affinity means that when one product is purchased, then another is often purchased as well. This analysis helps determine the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-sorensen/identifying-leader-category-affinities-affinity-means-that-when-one/) [Herb Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-sorensen/) > [Men of God and men of war have strange affinities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/men-of-god-and-men-of-war-have-strange-affinities/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Other human may try to cut me open inside, to see my happiness, but they will not find a trace. \*Feel how fast my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ms-freshie/other-human-may-try-to-cut-me-open-inside-to-see-my-happiness-but/) [Ms\_Freshie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ms-freshie/) > [“One might almost say that affinities begin with the letters of the alphabet. In that sequence, O and P are inseparable. You might just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/one-might-almost-say-that-affinities-begin-with-the-letters-of-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [It is a great bond to dislike the same things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-a-great-bond-to-dislike-the-same-things/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The style of the Bible in general is singularly adapted to men of every class and grade of culture, affording the child the simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-schaff/the-style-of-the-bible-in-general-is-singularly-adapted-to-men-of/) [Philip Schaff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-schaff/) > [At the profoundest depths in life, men talk not about God but with Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-elton-trueblood/at-the-profoundest-depths-in-life-men-talk-not-about-god-but-with-him/) [D. Elton Trueblood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-elton-trueblood/) > [Prayer is the highest intelligence, the profoundest wisdom, the most vital, the most joyous, the most efficacious, the most powerful of all vocations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/prayer-is-the-highest-intelligence-the-profoundest-wisdom-the-most/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe. One moment they make us despair of our kind, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-chesnutt/the-workings-of-the-human-heart-are-the-profoundest-mystery-of-the/) [Charles W. Chesnutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-chesnutt/) > [“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/solitude-is-the-profoundest-fact-of-the-human-condition/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Equilibrium is the profoundest tendency of all human activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/equilibrium-is-the-profoundest-tendency-of-all-human-activity/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Affinity quotes > [I have an affinity with the Leicester community and want the best for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-morrison/i-have-an-affinity-with-the-leicester-community-and-want-the-best-for/) [Mark Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-morrison/) > [There certainly is an affinity between a person and his work, but it is not easy to define what this affinity is, and on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/there-certainly-is-an-affinity-between-a-person-and-his-work-but-it/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [This formula of Love is universal; all the laws of Nature are its servitors. Thus, gravitation, chemical affinity, electrical potential, and the rest -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/this-formula-of-love-is-universal-all-the-laws-of-nature-are-its/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Your brain may give birth to any technology, but other brains will decide whether the technology thrives. The number of possible technologies is infinite,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wright/your-brain-may-give-birth-to-any-technology-but-other-brains-will/) [Robert Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wright/) > [I receive huge support from Irish and British sports fans alike and it is greatly appreciated. Likewise I feel I have a great affinity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-mcilroy/i-receive-huge-support-from-irish-and-british-sports-fans-alike-and/) [Rory McIlroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-mcilroy/) > [Savages have often been likened to children, and the comparison is not only correct but also highly instructive. Many naturalists consider that the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/savages-have-often-been-likened-to-children-and-the-comparison-is-not/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [My father being in the movie business, I thought being an actor would be great. But when I started singing to people in coffeehouses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crosby/my-father-being-in-the-movie-business-i-thought-being-an-actor-would/) [David Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crosby/) > [Gay men are perfect men for girls who are tough. They're not threatened by strong women, and they're usually very in touch with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/gay-men-are-perfect-men-for-girls-who-are-tough-they-re-not/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [A man is known by the books he reads, by the company he keeps, by the praise he gives, by his dress, by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-is-known-by-the-books-he-reads-by-the-company-he-keeps-by-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I've got German, Cornish and Scottish ancestry. It might help explain my affinity for forests, the sea, and fatty foods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-maclachlan/i-ve-got-german-cornish-and-scottish-ancestry-it-might-help-explain/) [Kyle MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-maclachlan/) > [I found myself being more and more involved with people who were rejected by society - with drug addicts, alcoholism, battered this, battered that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/i-found-myself-being-more-and-more-involved-with-people-who-were/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [The affinity of blood or pure haemoglobins for oxygen is a complex phenomenon, depending upon a number of conditions, the most important of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-krogh/the-affinity-of-blood-or-pure-haemoglobins-for-oxygen-is-a-complex/) [August Krogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-krogh/) > [Even if you have money, access to MoCap technology, and strong choreographic and computer-animation abilities, don't try to make a film like this if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martine-epoque/even-if-you-have-money-access-to-mocap-technology-and-strong/) [Martine Epoque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martine-epoque/) > [Would movie moguls release a film portraying Adolph Hitler as a great benefactor of the Jews? Hardly. Would they release a movie if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-wildmon/would-movie-moguls-release-a-film-portraying-adolph-hitler-as-a-great/) [Donald Wildmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-wildmon/) > [The profoundest affinities are the most readily felt; they remain a background and standard for all happiness and if we trace them out we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-profoundest-affinities-are-the-most-readily-felt-they-remain-a/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Browse all 259 Affinity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affinity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The profoundest affinities are those most readily felt, and though a thousand later considerations may overlay and override them, they remain a background and standard for all happiness. 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