--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When our eyes see our hands doing the…" description: "\"When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of a thing derided is a thing dead; a laughing man is stronger than a suffering ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg" --- # When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts… ![“When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of a thing derided is a thing dead; a laughing man is stronger than a suffering man” quote by Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg) > “When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of a thing derided is a thing dead; a laughing man is stronger than a suffering man” [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing hands work with heart shows vitality; laughter sustains life more than suffering. **In simple terms:** Work with heart, laughter over suffering. Key Takeaway Cultivate heartfelt work and humor. Themes creativity authenticity resilience artistic expression Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative projects - team collaboration - personal healing - stress relief Key Concepts symbolism human condition psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does your work reflect your heart? - What role does humor play in your life? A Different Perspective Laughter may mask deeper issues if overused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doing The Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-the-work/) [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bridge/when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-work-of-our-hearts-the-circle-2/) Michael Bridge > [A thing derided is a thing dead; a laughing man is stronger than a suffering man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/a-thing-derided-is-a-thing-dead-a-laughing-man-is-stronger-than-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“I believe there is a theory that men and women emerge finer and stronger after suffering, and that to advance in this or any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-believe-there-is-a-theory-that-men-and-women-emerge-finer-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe there is a theory that men and women emerge finer and stronger after suffering, an that to advance in this or any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/i-believe-there-is-a-theory-that-men-and-women-emerge-finer-and-3/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“I believe there is a theory that men and women emerge finer and stronger after suffering, and that to advance in this or any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/i-believe-there-is-a-theory-that-men-and-women-emerge-finer-and-2/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [The suffering man ought really to consume his own smoke; there is no good in emitting smoke till you have made it into fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-suffering-man-ought-really-to-consume-his-own-smoke-there-is-no/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“The growth of Sentiment is the increase of suffering; man is never entirely miserable until he finds out how wronged he is and fancies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-godfrey-leland/the-growth-of-sentiment-is-the-increase-of-suffering-man-is-never/) [Charles Godfrey Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-godfrey-leland/) > [When you saw people suffering... A man who fight for freedom, was tortured and jailed. A beggar asking for food, and was beaten. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-reolope/when-you-saw-people-suffering-a-man-who-fight-for-freedom-was/) [Janet Reolope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-reolope/) > ['The long-suffering man abounds in understanding' (Prov. 14:29), because he endures everything to the end and, while awaiting that end, patiently bears his distress.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximus-the-confessor/the-long-suffering-man-abounds-in-understanding-prov-14-29-because-he/) [Maximus the Confessor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximus-the-confessor/) > [Is suffering so very serious? I have come to doubt it. It may be quite childish, a sort of undignified pastime I'm referring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidonie-gabrielle-colette/is-suffering-so-very-serious-i-have-come-to-doubt-it-it-may-be-quite/) [Sidonie Gabrielle Colette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidonie-gabrielle-colette/) > [It is very difficult also to sacrifice one's suffering. A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-very-difficult-also-to-sacrifice-one-s-suffering-a-man-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is suffering so very serious? ...I'm referring to the kind of suffering a man inflicts on a woman or a woman on a man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidonie-gabrielle-colette/is-suffering-so-very-serious-i-m-referring-to-the-kind-of-suffering-a/) [Sidonie Gabrielle Colette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidonie-gabrielle-colette/) > [“It is easy to suffer for a cause or for a mission; this ennobles the heart of the person suffering. But how to explain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-easy-to-suffer-for-a-cause-or-for-a-mission-this-ennobles-the/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/man-cannot-possess-anything-as-long-as-he-fears-death-but-to-him-who/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [But how to explain suffering because of a man? It's not explainable. With that kind of suffering, a person feels as if they're in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/but-how-to-explain-suffering-because-of-a-man-it-s-not-explainable/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by Gustave Flaubert > [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/caught-up-in-life-you-see-it-badly-you-suffer-from-it-or-enjoy-it-too/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“When one does something, one must do it wholly and well. Those bastard existences where you sell suet all day and write poetry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-one-does-something-one-must-do-it-wholly-and-well-those-bastard/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/love-is-a-springtime-plant-that-perfumes-everything-with-its-hope/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-you-reduce-a-woman-to-writing-she-makes-you-think-of-a-thousand/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/travel-makes-one-modest-you-see-what-a-tiny-place-you-occupy-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/we-must-not-touch-our-idols-the-gilt-sticks-to-our-fingers/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/a-superhuman-will-is-needed-in-order-to-write-and-i-am-only-a-man/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-writer-must-wade-into-life-as-into-the-sea-but-only-up-to-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [COLD. Healthier than heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/cold-healthier-than-heat/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [And indeed, what is better than to sit by one's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/and-indeed-what-is-better-than-to-sit-by-one-s-fireside-in-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Emma was no asleep, she was pretending to be asleep; and, while he was dozing off at her side, she lay awake, dreaming other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/emma-was-no-asleep-she-was-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-while-he-was/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) [Explore all 526 Gustave Flaubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) ## More Laughter quotes > [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/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Our world will not die as a result of the bomb, as the papers say, it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/our-world-will-not-die-as-a-result-of-the-bomb-as-the-papers-say-it/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“Laugh and grow strong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/laugh-and-grow-strong/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I do love to laugh!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-giudice/i-do-love-to-laugh/) [Teresa Giudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-giudice/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [“Laughter sometimes hurts us, and sometimes it makes us feel better. No matter how down you feel... laughter brings a new ray of hope.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiko-tobe/laughter-sometimes-hurts-us-and-sometimes-it-makes-us-feel-better-no/) [Keiko Tobe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keiko-tobe/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [Nothing's funnier to me than laughing at myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-mcgraw/nothing-s-funnier-to-me-than-laughing-at-myself/) [Phil McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-mcgraw/) > [“A long, loud, and canorous peal of laughter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-de-quincey/a-long-loud-and-canorous-peal-of-laughter/) [Thomas de Quincey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-de-quincey/) > [There isn't a sound better than your own child's laugh...There isn't a sight better than your own child's smile...and Nothing is better than being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/there-isn-t-a-sound-better-than-your-own-child-s-laugh-there-isn-t-a/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [What I like to think I've done is try to teach all women and my three female daughters, to teach them to rise above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joely-fisher/what-i-like-to-think-i-ve-done-is-try-to-teach-all-women-and-my-three/) [Joely Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joely-fisher/) > [You didn't want to laugh, did you? It wasn't very funny, was it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-kennedy/you-didn-t-want-to-laugh-did-you-it-wasn-t-very-funny-was-it/) [Graham Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-kennedy/) > [Spirituality does not have to be serious. You are spirituality. Fun laughter heal you faster than anything. Introduce fun back into your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-moorjani/spirituality-does-not-have-to-be-serious-you-are-spirituality-fun/) [Anita Moorjani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-moorjani/) [Browse all 5,682 Laughter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of a thing derided is a thing dead; a laughing man is stronger than a suffering man", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gustave Flaubert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-work-of-our-hearts-the-circle/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Laughter" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-work-of-our-hearts-the-circle/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/gustave-flaubert-354_laughter_when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-wo_678047.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of a thing derided is a thing dead; a…” — Gustave Flaubert", "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": "Gustave Flaubert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When our eyes see our hands...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-work-of-our-hearts-the-circle/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-our-eyes-see-our-hands-doing-the-work-of-our-hearts-the-circle/#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 } } ] } ```