--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not what we think or feel that…" description: "\"“It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do. Or fail to do...”\" — Jane Austen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/780/jane-austen-39_fail_it-is-not-what-we-think-or-feel-that-mak_2565675.jpg" --- # It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are… ![“It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do. Or fail to do...” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/780/jane-austen-39_fail_it-is-not-what-we-think-or-feel-that-mak_2565675.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/780/jane-austen-39_fail_it-is-not-what-we-think-or-feel-that-mak_2565675.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/780/jane-austen-39_fail_it-is-not-what-we-think-or-feel-that-mak_2565675.jpg) > ““It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do. Or fail to do...”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is defined by actions and choices, not thoughts or feelings alone. **In simple terms:** Who we are is what we do. Key Takeaway Act in line with values. Themes identity action responsibility self‑definition Mood thoughtful motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - ethical decisions - leadership Key Concepts existentialism behaviorism agency Questions to Reflect On - What actions reflect your true self? - How do you align deeds with beliefs? A Different Perspective Thoughts alone don’t shape character. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fail/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel/) [Feel Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-makes-1574801/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Think Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-feel/) [What-we-do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-we-do-205349/) ## Related quotes > [What is it? For what do you scheme? Ethine's death would weigh on you and the stain of her blood would seep into your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/what-is-it-for-what-do-you-scheme-ethine-s-death-would-weigh-on-you/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [“Everything we do tells something about us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kipfer/everything-we-do-tells-something-about-us/) [barbara kipfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kipfer/) > [I think that usually I'm just drawn to something that's different from something that I've done previously. Whatever makes me feel something. Whatever makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brie-larson/i-think-that-usually-i-m-just-drawn-to-something-that-s-different/) [Brie Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brie-larson/) > [When I miss you, sometimes I listen to music or look at pictures of you, not to remind me of you but to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-miss-you-sometimes-i-listen-to-music-or-look-at-pictures-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I just want to do something that I feel makes a difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-boyle/i-just-want-to-do-something-that-i-feel-makes-a-difference/) [Frankie Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-boyle/) > [Think about love, or hate, or joy, or pain- whatever makes you feel something, makes your palms sweat, or your toes curl. Focus on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/think-about-love-or-hate-or-joy-or-pain-whatever-makes-you-feel/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [If you listen to PWR BTTM, or to Gloss, If you look at me on stage, it can make you feel less alone. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hopkins/if-you-listen-to-pwr-bttm-or-to-gloss-if-you-look-at-me-on-stage-it/) [Ben Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hopkins/) > [“People want to feel what they do makes a difference.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hesselbein/people-want-to-feel-what-they-do-makes-a-difference/) [Frances Hesselbein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hesselbein/) > [It is tough: sometimes the pain that you feel makes you grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuno-espirito-santo/it-is-tough-sometimes-the-pain-that-you-feel-makes-you-grow/) [Nuno Espirito Santo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuno-espirito-santo/) > [“Nobody makes you feel anything. Nobody makes you happy or unhappy. You do it to yourself, and until you stop pointing fingers and stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jettie-woodruff/nobody-makes-you-feel-anything-nobody-makes-you-happy-or-unhappy-you/) [Jettie Woodruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jettie-woodruff/) > [You want to feel a part of something that makes you feel a part of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jermaine-o-neal/you-want-to-feel-a-part-of-something-that-makes-you-feel-a-part-of-it/) [Jermaine O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jermaine-o-neal/) > [“She makes me feel...she makes me feel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/she-makes-me-feel-she-makes-me-feel/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Art makes us feel less alone. It makes us think: somebody else has thought this, somebody else has had these feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/art-makes-us-feel-less-alone-it-makes-us-think-somebody-else-has/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [If I can get them to think, get them to feel, get them to see, then I've done about all that I can as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/if-i-can-get-them-to-think-get-them-to-feel-get-them-to-see-then-i-ve/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE WITH SOMEONE WHO ISN'T QUITE RIGHT SOMEONE THAT MADE YOU THINK MORE THEN THEY MADE YOU FEEL](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-paul-rose/life-is-too-short-to-be-with-someone-who-isn-t-quite-right-someone/) [LEONARD PAUL ROSE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-paul-rose/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Fail quotes > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Would you like a side of epic with that fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabi/would-you-like-a-side-of-epic-with-that-fail/) [Gabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabi/) > [Apologies are not pass/fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/apologies-are-not-pass-fail/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [My willingness to fail gives me the ability to succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/my-willingness-to-fail-gives-me-the-ability-to-succeed/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) > [If you have a good idea you must explain it or you will fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/if-you-have-a-good-idea-you-must-explain-it-or-you-will-fail/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [We can't afford any president to fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/we-can-t-afford-any-president-to-fail/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [What I want is to be willing to fail rather than stagnate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/what-i-want-is-to-be-willing-to-fail-rather-than-stagnate/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [“If you die, I will find you. I will never leave you. I will never let you go. I will not let you fall,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thea-harrison/if-you-die-i-will-find-you-i-will-never-leave-you-i-will-never-let/) [Thea Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thea-harrison/) > [“The worst outcome of not trying is never getting to fail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-gary-smith/the-worst-outcome-of-not-trying-is-never-getting-to-fail/) [Phillip Gary Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-gary-smith/) > [“Many people fail in their career, business and relationship, and others get stuck because of their inability to make quality decisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkem-mpamah/many-people-fail-in-their-career-business-and-relationship-and-others/) [Nkem Mpamah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkem-mpamah/) > [“Quitters don’t gain what they have started working on; waiters don’t start what they could have gained. What is common there is failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/quitters-don-t-gain-what-they-have-started-working-on-waiters-don-t/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [This is my most important role. If I fail at this, I fail at everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wahlberg/this-is-my-most-important-role-if-i-fail-at-this-i-fail-at-everything/) [Mark Wahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-wahlberg/) > [Sunscreen is something that I think a lot of people fail to incorporate into their beauty routines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zegler/sunscreen-is-something-that-i-think-a-lot-of-people-fail-to/) [Rachel Zegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zegler/) > [Never give up on something just because you think you might fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-lee-reed-jr/never-give-up-on-something-just-because-you-think-you-might-fail/) [Jimmy Lee Reed Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-lee-reed-jr/) > [The main thing that endears the United Nations to member governments, and so enables it to survive, is its proven capacity to fail, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-cruise-o-brien/the-main-thing-that-endears-the-united-nations-to-member-governments/) [Conor Cruise O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-cruise-o-brien/) [Browse all 2,202 Fail quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fail/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. 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