--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is it, she asks me, why do people…" description: "\"“What is it, she asks me, why do people cry? Why do we cry when we're happy and when we're sad or hurt? I tell her what I know or think I know: that th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/liza-wieland-166708_physical-pain_what-is-it-she-asks-me-why-do-people-cry_1996843.jpg" --- # What is it, she asks me, why do people cry? Why do we cry… ![“What is it, she asks me, why do people cry? Why do we cry when we're happy and when we're sad or hurt? I tell her what I know or think I know: that the body does not distinguish between emotional and physical pain; the muscles around the lachrymal glands receive a message from the brain, then…” quote by Liza Wieland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/liza-wieland-166708_physical-pain_what-is-it-she-asks-me-why-do-people-cry_1996843.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/liza-wieland-166708_physical-pain_what-is-it-she-asks-me-why-do-people-cry_1996843.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/liza-wieland-166708_physical-pain_what-is-it-she-asks-me-why-do-people-cry_1996843.jpg) > ““What is it, she asks me, why do people cry? Why do we cry when we're happy and when we're sad or hurt? I tell her what I know or think I know: that the body does not distinguish between emotional and physical pain; the muscles around the lachrymal glands receive a message from the brain, then tighten and squeeze out tears. Tears contain high levels of the hormone ACTH and prolactin, endorphins (which we know are mood-altering and pain-killing), as well as thirty times more manganese than is found in blood, suggesting that human tears can concentrate and remove harmful substances from the body. Prolactin in humans controls fluid balance; by the age of eighteen women have 60 percent more prolactin than men, which may explain why women seem to cry more often. I tell her that sadness--like happiness--is an intense feeling of being alive, of having essence. I try to explain to her my own nonscientific theory: that crying is about weight or heft, that we cry when our bodies feel too light or too heavy to bear or hold on to language.”” [Liza Wieland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-wieland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Crying serves both emotional and physiological purposes, releasing hormones and toxins, reflecting the body's need to balance heaviness and lightness of feeling. **In simple terms:** Crying releases chemicals and balances emotions. Key Takeaway Allow tears as a natural healing process. Themes tears emotions physiology stress relief Mood introspective relieved empathetic Type Physical pain:0 Sadness:0 Science:0 Tears:0 Human Tears:0 Tears Contain:0 Body Prolactin:0 Prolactin Humans:0 When to use this quote - health coping - grief processing - stress reduction Key Concepts neuroscience endocrinology psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural views affect your willingness to cry? - What physical benefits have you noticed after crying? A Different Perspective Crying can be socially stigmatized, limiting its therapeutic use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body Prolactin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-prolactin-3492251/) [Human Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-tears-524424/) [Physical pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-pain/) [Prolactin Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prolactin-humans-3492252/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Tears Contain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears-contain-3492250/) ## Related quotes > [Curiously, the one bodily fluid of other people that doesn't disgust us is the one produced by the human alone: tears. 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Sometimes you're just in physical pain, and that's a bummer. Even then, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-ebert/physical-pain-is-problematic-because-it-s-very-difficult-to-transcend/) [Alex Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-ebert/) > [When love doesn't work, we hurt. Indeed, “hurt feelings” is a precisely accurate phrase, according to psychologist Naomi Eisenberger of the University of California.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-johnson/when-love-doesn-t-work-we-hurt-indeed-hurt-feelings-is-a-precisely/) [Sue Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-johnson/) > [With every physical pain, my moral fibre unravels a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/with-every-physical-pain-my-moral-fibre-unravels-a-little/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [“You want to know how I see you?' Forster's voice turned husky. 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Tears contain high levels of the hormone ACTH and prolactin, endorphins (which we know are mood-altering and pain-killing), as well as thirty times more manganese than is found in blood, suggesting that human tears can concentrate and remove harmful substances from the body. Prolactin in humans controls fluid balance; by the age of eighteen women have 60 percent more prolactin than men, which may explain why women seem to cry more often. I tell her that sadness--like happiness--is an intense feeling of being alive, of having essence. 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