--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most of who we are is our deepest…" description: "\"Most of who we are is our deepest emotions, and someone who cannot feel those emotions in a positive way is never going to understand much about his fe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg" --- # Most of who we are is our deepest emotions, and someone… ![“Most of who we are is our deepest emotions, and someone who cannot feel those emotions in a positive way is never going to understand much about his fellow human beings.” quote by Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg) > “Most of who we are is our deepest emotions, and someone who cannot feel those emotions in a positive way is never going to understand much about his fellow human beings.” [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our identity is shaped by deep emotions; lacking positive emotional experience limits empathy and understanding of others. **In simple terms:** Emotions define us; without them we struggle to relate. Key Takeaway Cultivate positive emotional awareness. Themes empathy identity emotion understanding Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical insightful When to use this quote - counseling - team leadership - parenting - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology emotional intelligence human connection Questions to Reflect On - How can you foster positive emotions in yourself? - What role does rational thought play in empathy? A Different Perspective Positive emotions are not the sole source of insight; rational analysis also matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions/) ## Related quotes > [“Human beings often display emotions they do not feel. And they often feel emotions they do not display.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/human-beings-often-display-emotions-they-do-not-feel-and-they-often/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I don't feel negative emotions. I feel calm, composed and ready. And as it goes on I get better at it. By the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/i-don-t-feel-negative-emotions-i-feel-calm-composed-and-ready-and-as/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [My mind has trouble processing all the emotions I feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-mind-has-trouble-processing-all-the-emotions-i-feel/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The way we write our solo songs is that we take the emotions that we feel and put them in the lyrics. And we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-tae-hyung/the-way-we-write-our-solo-songs-is-that-we-take-the-emotions-that-we/) [Kim Tae-hyung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-tae-hyung/) > [Love and hate are two of the strongest emotions we feel in relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ava-max/love-and-hate-are-two-of-the-strongest-emotions-we-feel-in/) [Ava Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ava-max/) > [“And then again, maybe people and things are the same as emotions: Even when you can't see them or feel them or be with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/and-then-again-maybe-people-and-things-are-the-same-as-emotions-even/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [There's nothing wrong with having a bad day. Let yourself feel those emotions because every emotion is validated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iskra-lawrence/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-having-a-bad-day-let-yourself-feel-those/) [Iskra Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iskra-lawrence/) > [Sometimes when you watch children, you feel that they show emotions that you, as an adult, can relate to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hirokazu-kore-eda/sometimes-when-you-watch-children-you-feel-that-they-show-emotions/) [Hirokazu Kore-eda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hirokazu-kore-eda/) > [Israeli occupation exposes us very young to the extremes of our emotions, until we cannot feel except in the extreme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/israeli-occupation-exposes-us-very-young-to-the-extremes-of-our/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [“Poetry purrs like a kitten on the tip of our tongue. Each word fluidly floating from our lips, like little crystalline snowflakes, before settling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaeda-dewalt/poetry-purrs-like-a-kitten-on-the-tip-of-our-tongue-each-word-fluidly/) [Jaeda DeWalt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaeda-dewalt/) > [Music moves the deepest emotions, stirs buried memories, makes one forget yet creates new feelings and sometimes cures illness too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-basu-prasad/music-moves-the-deepest-emotions-stirs-buried-memories-makes-one/) [Shweta Basu Prasad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-basu-prasad/) > [Music and religion are as intimately related as poetry and love; the deepest emotions require for their civilized expression the most emotional of arts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/music-and-religion-are-as-intimately-related-as-poetry-and-love-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [A body is merely a vehicle. The deepest emotions are experienced through the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-adornetto/a-body-is-merely-a-vehicle-the-deepest-emotions-are-experienced/) [Alexandra Adornetto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-adornetto/) > [“The Psalms put us in touch with our deepest emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tremper-longman-iii/the-psalms-put-us-in-touch-with-our-deepest-emotions/) [Tremper Longman III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tremper-longman-iii/) > [“It seems impossible that I should be born to get so near to some things which touch the deepest strings of human conduct, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-e-baker/it-seems-impossible-that-i-should-be-born-to-get-so-near-to-some/) [Wallace E. Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-e-baker/) ## More by Martha Stout > [“A part of a healthy conscience is being able to confront consciencelessness. When you teach your daughter, explicitly or by passive rejection, that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/a-part-of-a-healthy-conscience-is-being-able-to-confront/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [I would hesitate to tell people to stop being kind or sympathetic to sociopath. But just like loyalty, some things that can be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/i-would-hesitate-to-tell-people-to-stop-being-kind-or-sympathetic-to/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [“when confronted with a destructive outcome that is clearly their doing, they will say, plain and simple, “I never did that,” and will to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/when-confronted-with-a-destructive-outcome-that-is-clearly-their/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [Usually sociopaths will look down upon us for that very reason - that we're gullible. We're weak. One person told me that he thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/usually-sociopaths-will-look-down-upon-us-for-that-very-reason-that/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [A conscience is, for a while anyway, pretty easy to fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/a-conscience-is-for-a-while-anyway-pretty-easy-to-fake/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/i-saw-a-werewolf-drinking-a-pina-colada-at-trader-vic-s-his-hair-was/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [The most reliable sign, the most universal behavior of unscrupulous people is not directed, as one might imagine, at our fearfulness. It is, perversely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/the-most-reliable-sign-the-most-universal-behavior-of-unscrupulous/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [When you were a child, where boredom could actually get to be painful. Sociopaths experience that kind of pain in boredom. And so to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/when-you-were-a-child-where-boredom-could-actually-get-to-be-painful/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [One way or another, a life without conscience is a failed life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/one-way-or-another-a-life-without-conscience-is-a-failed-life/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [We raise our children, especially girls, to ignore their spontaneious reactions-we teach them not to rock the societal boat...By the time she is thirty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/we-raise-our-children-especially-girls-to-ignore-their-spontaneious/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [“Unless under the spell of a psychotic delusion, extreme rage, inescapable deprivation, drugs, or a destructive authority figure, a person who is conscience-bound does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/unless-under-the-spell-of-a-psychotic-delusion-extreme-rage/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [“If all you had ever felt toward another person were the cold wish to “win,” how would you understand the meaning of love, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/if-all-you-had-ever-felt-toward-another-person-were-the-cold-wish-to/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [“And so without our primordial attachments to others, what would we be? Evidently, we would be the players of a game, one that resembled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/and-so-without-our-primordial-attachments-to-others-what-would-we-be/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [When I speak of divisions greater than gender or race, I say that because it is so unimaginable. I can imagine what it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/when-i-speak-of-divisions-greater-than-gender-or-race-i-say-that/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [“Conscience- protects the privileges of intimacy, makes ,friends keep their promises, prevents the angered spouse from striking back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/conscience-protects-the-privileges-of-intimacy-makes-friends-keep/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) [Explore all 75 Martha Stout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) ## More Emotion quotes > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/) Marlin > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [“Emotion as well as reason belongs to the very stuff of history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-smalley/emotion-as-well-as-reason-belongs-to-the-very-stuff-of-history/) Beryl Smalley > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them. They may forget what you said, but they will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [There cannot be any communication except through form. If there is no form, you cannot create emotion in the spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/there-cannot-be-any-communication-except-through-form-if-there-is-no/) [Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ Music \[is\] the third rail of life. You grabbed it to shock yourself out of the dull drag of hours. To feel something. To… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/music-is-the-third-rail-of-life-you-grabbed-it-to-shock-yourself-out/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [“What if each time you experienced an emotion, you acknowledged it, accepted it, and became curious about its message for you (instead of trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/what-if-each-time-you-experienced-an-emotion-you-acknowledged-it/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) [Browse all 7,204 Emotion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most of who we are is our deepest emotions, and someone who cannot feel those emotions in a positive way is never going to understand much about his fellow human beings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martha Stout" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotions-and-someone-who-cannot/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emotion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotions-and-someone-who-cannot/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ee/martha-stout-9173_emotion_most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotio_398324.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most of who we are is our deepest emotions, and someone who cannot feel those emotions in a positive way is…” — Martha Stout", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Martha Stout", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most of who we are is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotions-and-someone-who-cannot/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/most-of-who-we-are-is-our-deepest-emotions-and-someone-who-cannot/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```