--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm always telling myself I don't have…" description: "\"I'm always telling myself I don't have many feelings. Even when something does affect me I'm only moderately moved. I almost never cry. It's not that I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/herta-m-ller-4269_bones_i-m-always-telling-myself-i-don-t-have-m_1209853.jpg" --- # I'm always telling myself I don't have many feelings. Even… ![“I'm always telling myself I don't have many feelings. Even when something does affect me I'm only moderately moved. I almost never cry. It's not that I'm stronger than the ones with teary eyes, I'm weaker. They have courage. When all you are is skin and bones, feelings are a brave thing. I'm more…” quote by Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/herta-m-ller-4269_bones_i-m-always-telling-myself-i-don-t-have-m_1209853.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/herta-m-ller-4269_bones_i-m-always-telling-myself-i-don-t-have-m_1209853.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/herta-m-ller-4269_bones_i-m-always-telling-myself-i-don-t-have-m_1209853.jpg) > “I'm always telling myself I don't have many feelings. Even when something does affect me I'm only moderately moved. I almost never cry. It's not that I'm stronger than the ones with teary eyes, I'm weaker. They have courage. When all you are is skin and bones, feelings are a brave thing. I'm more of a coward. The difference is minimal though, I just use my strength not to cry. When I do allow myself a feeling, I take the part that hurts and bandage it up with a story that doesn't cry, that doesn't dwell on homesickness.” [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker admits suppressing emotions, equating restraint with weakness, and using narrative to avoid vulnerability. **In simple terms:** I hide feelings and tell stories instead of crying. Key Takeaway Allow yourself to feel without disguising it. Themes emotional suppression vulnerability strength storytelling Mood reflective melancholic Type personal psychological When to use this quote - personal relationships - grief processing - creative writing - mental health therapy Key Concepts psychology masculinity cultural expectations Questions to Reflect On - What would happen if you let yourself cry? - How can storytelling help process pain? A Different Perspective Suppressing emotions can lead to unresolved trauma and isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Homesickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homesickness/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [Don't allow feeling lonely to cause you to continue going back to someone who isn't good for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-allow-feeling-lonely-to-cause-you-to-continue-going-back-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I'm not invisible. I have desires. I want to be touched and held and told that I'm worth something. I am not pitiful. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abria-mattina/i-m-not-invisible-i-have-desires-i-want-to-be-touched-and-held-and/) [Abria Mattina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abria-mattina/) > [“I think you’re blessed to have had such a soulful experience and that you acted on it. I think everyone at some time in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-gable/i-think-you-re-blessed-to-have-had-such-a-soulful-experience-and-that/) [Joan Gable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-gable/) > [I was not brave enough to tell my feelings to her but now she made me brave enough to watch her loving somebody else...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexia/i-was-not-brave-enough-to-tell-my-feelings-to-her-but-now-she-made-me/) [Alexia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexia/) > [Some people speak and sing and walk and sit and sleep and silence their homesickness, for a long time, and to no avail. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/some-people-speak-and-sing-and-walk-and-sit-and-sleep-and-silence/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The ex-pat's life with all its homesickness and loneliness and privileges and perks, with its dizzy ups and miserable downs, was certainly not ordinary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-keenan/the-ex-pat-s-life-with-all-its-homesickness-and-loneliness-and/) Brigid Keenan > [“…he will always live in a place he is not from. For a long time he thought that habit would counter this fact and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-bishop/he-will-always-live-in-a-place-he-is-not-from-for-a-long-time-he/) Stephanie Bishop > [It is a curious emotion, this certain homesickness I have in mind. With Americans, it is a national trait, as native to us as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-is-a-curious-emotion-this-certain-homesickness-i-have-in-mind-with/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“He wonders what it would be like to belong somewhere and never doubt it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-bishop/he-wonders-what-it-would-be-like-to-belong-somewhere-and-never-doubt/) Stephanie Bishop > [“Give me homesickness. Flash. Give me nostalgic childhood yearnings. 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When she was very small, she would wake up tearing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/she-used-to-suffer-these-intense-bouts-of-homesickness-in-her-own/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of time as are individuals. But in and through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/concepts-like-individuals-have-their-histories-and-are-just-as/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [At first he thought he felt bad because he was afraid of leading an army, but it wasn't true. He knew he'd make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/at-first-he-thought-he-felt-bad-because-he-was-afraid-of-leading-an/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## More by Herta Muller > [“And I’m different without you. You’re the only one who thinks you’re never different.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/and-i-m-different-without-you-you-re-the-only-one-who-thinks-you-re/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Working with language requires beauty for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/working-with-language-requires-beauty-for-me/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“I wanted to work out a trade with things that aren’t alive but aren’t dead either. I wanted to make an emergency exchange, trading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-wanted-to-work-out-a-trade-with-things-that-aren-t-alive-but-aren-t/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [My first book, 'Nadirs,' was very important for me. I'll leave its literary worth for others to judge. But its publication in Berlin in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/my-first-book-nadirs-was-very-important-for-me-i-ll-leave-its/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“I'm drawn outside to the empty yard of the afternoon. The wind tosses thin snow that crackles against my neck. With open hunger the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-m-drawn-outside-to-the-empty-yard-of-the-afternoon-the-wind-tosses/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The cabbage white flies through the tailor's cheek. The tailor sinks his head. The cabbage white flies out of the back of the tailor's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/the-cabbage-white-flies-through-the-tailor-s-cheek-the-tailor-sinks/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The reasaon I'm shy of objects is because I like them. I transfer the thoughts that are against me onto them. Then these thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/the-reasaon-i-m-shy-of-objects-is-because-i-like-them-i-transfer-the/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“The gym instructor was the first to raise his hand. All the other hands flew up after his. While raising their hands, everybody looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/the-gym-instructor-was-the-first-to-raise-his-hand-all-the-other/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [I have packed myself into silence so deeply and for so long that I can never unpack myself using words. 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Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/some-people-speak-and-sing-and-walk-and-sit-and-sleep-and-silence/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“I wanted love to grow back, like the grass when it’s mown down. To grow differently, if need be, like children’s teeth, like hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/i-wanted-love-to-grow-back-like-the-grass-when-it-s-mown-down-to-grow/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Whatever I read went under my skin. I almost devoured the literature, which became like a road to discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/whatever-i-read-went-under-my-skin-i-almost-devoured-the-literature/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [“Some say that over time homesickness loses its specific content, that it starts to smolder and only then becomes all-consuming, because it’s no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/some-say-that-over-time-homesickness-loses-its-specific-content-that/) [Herta Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) [Explore all 92 Herta Muller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) ## More Bones quotes > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! 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The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/we-are-preaching-hope-standing-on-the-bones-of-the-past/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. 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