--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are a feelingless people. If we could…" description: "\"We are a feelingless people. If we could really feel, the pain would be so great that we would stop all the suffering. If we could feel that one person..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/julian-beck-51458_bowels_we-are-a-feelingless-people-if-we-could_1347084.jpg" --- # We are a feelingless people. If we could really feel, the… ![“We are a feelingless people. If we could really feel, the pain would be so great that we would stop all the suffering. If we could feel that one person every six seconds dies of starvation ... we would stop it. ... If we could really feel it in the bowels, the groin, in the throat, in the breast…” quote by Julian Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/julian-beck-51458_bowels_we-are-a-feelingless-people-if-we-could_1347084.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/julian-beck-51458_bowels_we-are-a-feelingless-people-if-we-could_1347084.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/julian-beck-51458_bowels_we-are-a-feelingless-people-if-we-could_1347084.jpg) > “We are a feelingless people. If we could really feel, the pain would be so great that we would stop all the suffering. If we could feel that one person every six seconds dies of starvation ... we would stop it. ... If we could really feel it in the bowels, the groin, in the throat, in the breast, we would go into the streets and stop the war, stop slavery, stop the prisons, stop the killing, stop destruction.” [Julian Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-beck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that human indifference to suffering is a choice; true empathy would compel us to end oppression and violence. **In simple terms:** If we truly felt others' pain, we would end suffering. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy to drive social change. Themes empathy social justice humanity Mood somber reflective Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - activism - policy reform - education - community outreach Key Concepts moral responsibility psychology of indifference Questions to Reflect On - How can we foster genuine empathy in society? - What structures keep us detached from others' suffering? A Different Perspective Human capacity for denial can persist despite awareness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bowels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bowels/) [Breasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breasts/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Feel Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-pain/) [Feelingless People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelingless-people-3169507/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Seconds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seconds/) [Six](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/six/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Starvation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starvation/) [Stop Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-suffering-298225/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-feel-340893/) [That one person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/that-one-person/) [Throat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throat/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [We are a feelingless people. If we could really feel, the pain would be so great that we would stop all the suffering at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-beck/we-are-a-feelingless-people-if-we-could-really-feel-the-pain-would-be/) [Julian Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-beck/) > [Now that I'm suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer more than I ever did before. The other night, on TV, I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morrie-schwartz/now-that-i-m-suffering-i-feel-closer-to-people-who-suffer-more-than-i/) [Morrie Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morrie-schwartz/) > [“But it's hard to explain, Mitch. Now that I'm suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer than I ever did before.. ..I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/but-it-s-hard-to-explain-mitch-now-that-i-m-suffering-i-feel-closer/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, know us and love us. 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It's the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-find-it-difficult-to-feel-responsible-for-the-suffering-of-others/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [When your suffering is a little greater than my suffering I feel that I am a little cruel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/when-your-suffering-is-a-little-greater-than-my-suffering-i-feel-that/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [When I read stories of suffering, I still feel something. It seems inhuman not to. At the same time, I'm more aware than ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/when-i-read-stories-of-suffering-i-still-feel-something-it-seems/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [“See confusion as confusion. Acknowledge suffering as suffering. Feel pain and sorrow and divisiveness. Experience anger or fear or shock for what they are.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hagen/see-confusion-as-confusion-acknowledge-suffering-as-suffering-feel/) [Steve Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hagen/) > [“She may not belong to my life, nor my name, nor my fate, yet if her presence awakens poise within my chaos and makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohmod-irfan-shah/she-may-not-belong-to-my-life-nor-my-name-nor-my-fate-yet-if-her/) [Mohmod Irfan Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohmod-irfan-shah/) > [You never really feel somebody's suffering. You only feel their death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-carney/you-never-really-feel-somebody-s-suffering-you-only-feel-their-death/) [Art Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-carney/) > [Some people say: "There is no God; because, if there was a God, God would stop all the suffering." Nonsense! God is oblivious to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/some-people-say-there-is-no-god-because-if-there-was-a-god-god-would/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“When to stopped wishing things wouldn't fall apart, you'd stop suffering when they did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/when-to-stopped-wishing-things-wouldn-t-fall-apart-you-d-stop/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [I suffered too much and I want to stop the suffering of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phan-thi-kim-phuc/i-suffered-too-much-and-i-want-to-stop-the-suffering-of-other-people/) [Phan Thi Kim Phuc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phan-thi-kim-phuc/) ## More by Julian Beck > [I do not like the Broadway theatre because it does not know how to say hello. The tone of voice is false, the mannerisms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-beck/i-do-not-like-the-broadway-theatre-because-it-does-not-know-how-to/) [Julian Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-beck/) > [You cannot be free if you are contained withing a fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-beck/you-cannot-be-free-if-you-are-contained-withing-a-fiction/) [Julian Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-beck/) > [We are a feelingless people. 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Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-m-stirling/) > [Satan sent her from the bowels of hell, I should have recognized old Jezebel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-cooper/satan-sent-her-from-the-bowels-of-hell-i-should-have-recognized-old/) [Alice Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-cooper/) > [I would like to be a figment of my own imagination, but belly and bowels will not permit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/i-would-like-to-be-a-figment-of-my-own-imagination-but-belly-and/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [When heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o'erflow? If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad, Threatening the welkin with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/when-heaven-doth-weep-doth-not-the-earth-o-erflow-if-the-winds-rage/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The humorist who invented trial by jury played a colossal practical joke upon the world, but since we have the system we ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-humorist-who-invented-trial-by-jury-played-a-colossal-practical/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [All wars are civil ones; for it is still man spilling his own blood, tearing out his own bowels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/all-wars-are-civil-ones-for-it-is-still-man-spilling-his-own-blood/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [It is in vain to dream of a wildness distant from ourselves. There is none such. 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