--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As you damned well know, we never change…" description: "\"“As you damned well know, we never change much in our hearts.”\" — J.D. Salinger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc5/j-d-salinger-560_change_as-you-damned-well-know-we-never-change_3019148.png" --- # As you damned well know, we never change much in our hearts. ![“As you damned well know, we never change much in our hearts.” quote by J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc5/j-d-salinger-560_change_as-you-damned-well-know-we-never-change_3019148.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc5/j-d-salinger-560_change_as-you-damned-well-know-we-never-change_3019148.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc5/j-d-salinger-560_change_as-you-damned-well-know-we-never-change_3019148.png) > ““As you damned well know, we never change much in our hearts.”” [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People resist deep emotional change; core selves stay largely the same. **In simple terms:** Hard to change deep feelings. Key Takeaway Accept that some traits are stubborn. Themes psychology resistance identity Mood cynical reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal growth - relationship counseling Key Concepts human nature self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - Why do we cling to old habits? - Can true change happen? A Different Perspective Change may require more than willpower. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-hearts-479852/) [Damned Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damned-know-2035118/) [Hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hearts/) [Know Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-change/) ## Related quotes > [“He shrugged. “Whatever does it mean? We write poems about it all day and sing songs about it all night but if there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/he-shrugged-whatever-does-it-mean-we-write-poems-about-it-all-day-and/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [“... and he looked at me and I looked at him and he said," What's happening here, mister? 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We can change our hearts... and therefore the Universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-gere/the-reality-is-we-can-change-we-can-change-ourselves-we-can-change/) [Richard Gere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-gere/) > [“Laws have never been able to change human nature, and only God can change hearts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-mitchell/laws-have-never-been-able-to-change-human-nature-and-only-god-can/) [Siri Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-mitchell/) > [If you want to diminish the number of abortions, you've got to change hearts and not laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-harper/if-you-want-to-diminish-the-number-of-abortions-you-ve-got-to-change/) [Stephen Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-harper/) > [This is life. Our bodies change. Our minds change. Our hearts change. Things are always evolving. I hope we can be supportive of each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/this-is-life-our-bodies-change-our-minds-change-our-hearts-change/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) ## More by J.D. Salinger > [“I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all… I'm standing on the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-keep-picturing-all-these-little-kids-playing-some-game-in-this-big/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“If you're a poet, you do something beautiful. I mean you're supposed to leave something beautiful after you get off the page and everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/if-you-re-a-poet-you-do-something-beautiful-i-mean-you-re-supposed-to/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was… The only thing that would be different would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/the-best-thing-though-in-that-museum-was-that-everything-always/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“And you make people nervous, young man," she said - most equably, for her. "You either take to somebody or you don't. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/and-you-make-people-nervous-young-man-she-said-most-equably-for-her/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“I still think that, in a way, I can't get past half my childhood dogmas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-still-think-that-in-a-way-i-can-t-get-past-half-my-childhood-dogmas/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“He stuck around till around dinnertime, talking about all the guys at Pencey that he hated their guts, and squeezing this big pimple on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/he-stuck-around-till-around-dinnertime-talking-about-all-the-guys-at/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“For example, when Seymour told one of the twins or Zooey or Franny or even Mme. Boo Boo (who was only two years younger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/for-example-when-seymour-told-one-of-the-twins-or-zooey-or-franny-or/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“One thing? One thing I like? Okay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/one-thing-one-thing-i-like-okay/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“The cigars are ballast, sweetheart. Sheer ballast. If he didn’t have a cigar to hold on to, his feet would leave the ground. We’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/the-cigars-are-ballast-sweetheart-sheer-ballast-if-he-didn-t-have-a/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“They're just people that write poems that get published and anthologized all over the place but they're not poets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/they-re-just-people-that-write-poems-that-get-published-and/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“In certain Zen monasteries, it's a cardinal rule, if not the only serious enforced discipline, that when one monk calls out 'Hi!' to another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/in-certain-zen-monasteries-it-s-a-cardinal-rule-if-not-the-only/) [j.d. salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“And I hate to tell you... but I think that once you have a fair idea where you want to go, your first move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/and-i-hate-to-tell-you-but-i-think-that-once-you-have-a-fair-idea/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“Hi,' he said. He always said it like he was terrifically bored or terrifically tired. He didn't want you to think he was visiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/hi-he-said-he-always-said-it-like-he-was-terrifically-bored-or/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [ “\[Y\]ou’re someone who took up birds in the first place because they fired your imagination; they fascinated you because ‘they seemed of all created… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/y-ou-re-someone-who-took-up-birds-in-the-first-place-because-they/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) [Explore all 416 J.D. Salinger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. 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