--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Too many men I know experience shame…" description: "\"“Too many men I know experience shame because society places pressure on them to withhold emotion: emotion and sensitivity is weak. I have found the op..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg" --- # Too many men I know experience shame because society… ![“Too many men I know experience shame because society places pressure on them to withhold emotion: emotion and sensitivity is weak. I have found the opposite is true: emotion and sensitivity is what makes us strong.” quote by Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg) > ““Too many men I know experience shame because society places pressure on them to withhold emotion: emotion and sensitivity is weak. I have found the opposite is true: emotion and sensitivity is what makes us strong.”” [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal pressure to suppress emotion weakens us; true strength lies in embracing sensitivity. **In simple terms:** Suppressing emotion weakens; embracing it strengthens. Key Takeaway Allow yourself emotional openness. Themes vulnerability strength social norms Mood empathetic encouraging Type psychological motivational When to use this quote - therapy - team building - parenting Key Concepts emotional intelligence gender studies Questions to Reflect On - How does vulnerability affect your relationships? - What pressures make you hide emotions? A Different Perspective Cultural stigma may persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Sensitivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensitivity/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) ## Related quotes > [“when’s the last time you had a serious conversation with someone about the meaning of love? In this way, love is the mirror image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/when-s-the-last-time-you-had-a-serious-conversation-with-someone/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“Women most often experience shame as a web of layered, conflicting, and competing social-community expectations. The expectations dictate who we should be, what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/women-most-often-experience-shame-as-a-web-of-layered-conflicting-and/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“Toxic shame results from the unexpected exposure of vulnerable aspects of a child’s self. This exposure takes place before the child has any ego…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/toxic-shame-results-from-the-unexpected-exposure-of-vulnerable/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) > [Shame usually follows a pattern—a cycle of self-recrimination and lies that claims life after life. First, we experience an intensely painful event. Second, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/shame-usually-follows-a-pattern-a-cycle-of-self-recrimination-and/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [In the experience is the emotion. In the emotion is the gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-brooks/in-the-experience-is-the-emotion-in-the-emotion-is-the-gift/) Patricia Brooks > [Its gotten to the point where I either feel no emotion or every emotion at once](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-ramkran/its-gotten-to-the-point-where-i-either-feel-no-emotion-or-every/) [Christine Ramkran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-ramkran/) > [“First of all, you need to know that an emotion is only that—an emotion—even though it may be a big, strong one. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/first-of-all-you-need-to-know-that-an-emotion-is-only-that-an-emotion/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [There can be no causeless love or any sort of causeless emotion. An emotion is a response to a fact of reality, an estimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/there-can-be-no-causeless-love-or-any-sort-of-causeless-emotion-an/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [“Knowledge guides emotion more than emotion distorts knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/knowledge-guides-emotion-more-than-emotion-distorts-knowledge/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/art-is-a-manifestation-of-emotion-and-emotion-speaks-a-language-that/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“…his intention was pure. He didn’t know why, but he liked a girl and he felt compelled to do something about it. That’s how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-winston/his-intention-was-pure-he-didn-t-know-why-but-he-liked-a-girl-and-he/) [Hilary Winston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-winston/) > [“I am no longer a writer. Just an emotion. An emotion that is unable to stay within its own body, and is therefore, trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaeema-j-hussain/i-am-no-longer-a-writer-just-an-emotion-an-emotion-that-is-unable-to/) [Zaeema J. Hussain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaeema-j-hussain/) > [An emotion is only an emotion. It's just a small part of your whole being. You are much more than your emotion. An emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/an-emotion-is-only-an-emotion-it-s-just-a-small-part-of-your-whole/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“Emotion is emotion, and politics is politics, and one has nothing to do with the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/emotion-is-emotion-and-politics-is-politics-and-one-has-nothing-to-do/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) > [All the stories have to do with emotion. Emotion is driving everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hader/all-the-stories-have-to-do-with-emotion-emotion-is-driving-everything/) [Bill Hader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hader/) ## More by Natalie Brenner > [“My parents are humans too. This has been one of my greatest awakenings in adulthood: my parents being regular people, too. They have baggage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/my-parents-are-humans-too-this-has-been-one-of-my-greatest-awakenings/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“I craved to make my faith as real as possible, which meant being recklessly honest in His presence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/i-craved-to-make-my-faith-as-real-as-possible-which-meant-being/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“...hope is never wasted. Even if what I hoped for did not come to fruition as I had imagined, as I had hoped. Hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/hope-is-never-wasted-even-if-what-i-hoped-for-did-not-come-to/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“Wholeness is birthed through vulnerability and sensitivity, which is often conceived in brokenness. Jesus taught me this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/wholeness-is-birthed-through-vulnerability-and-sensitivity-which-is/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“...when I decided to be fully honest about whatever my heart undergoes, I found immense peace among the chaos of uncertainties. In my honesty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/when-i-decided-to-be-fully-honest-about-whatever-my-heart-undergoes-i/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“...the sweetness of grace and freedom comes hand in hand with the uncomfortable, bitter-rawness of honest emotions and grief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/the-sweetness-of-grace-and-freedom-comes-hand-in-hand-with-the/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“Time and time again, I find I cannot skip the night to arrive to the morning. Joy comes in the morning, but the morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/time-and-time-again-i-find-i-cannot-skip-the-night-to-arrive-to-the/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“I wanted to forgive my mom and my dad so badly for the deep hurt they caused, the fear their broken marriage invoked in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/i-wanted-to-forgive-my-mom-and-my-dad-so-badly-for-the-deep-hurt-they/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“I wasn't there yet, I wasn't finding joy and gladness in my barrenness, but I believed I would. I believed He would make my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/i-wasn-t-there-yet-i-wasn-t-finding-joy-and-gladness-in-my-barrenness/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“I began realizing it was okay to just sit with Him instead of always reading and journaling prayers or hustling off to the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/i-began-realizing-it-was-okay-to-just-sit-with-him-instead-of-always/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“Something significant in me snapped when I miscarried; that something hadnt unsnapped yet. It hadn't been put back together and I was afraid it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/something-significant-in-me-snapped-when-i-miscarried-that-something/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“We cannot experience free joy and happiness without experiencing the depths of pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/we-cannot-experience-free-joy-and-happiness-without-experiencing-the/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“I must acknowledge that though his adoption embodies graciousness, it is also a reminder this world is not as it should be. Brokenness permeates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/i-must-acknowledge-that-though-his-adoption-embodies-graciousness-it/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“Fast forgiveness is a part of Christian culture I want to help change and transform. I ache for a journey of Jesus-like forgiveness. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/fast-forgiveness-is-a-part-of-christian-culture-i-want-to-help-change/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) > [“I love them both as though I birthed them both, but also as though I adopted them both.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/i-love-them-both-as-though-i-birthed-them-both-but-also-as-though-i/) [Natalie Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) [Explore all 19 Natalie Brenner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/) ## 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": "“Too many men I know experience shame because society places pressure on them to withhold emotion: emotion and sensitivity is weak. I have found the opposite is true: emotion and sensitivity is what makes us strong.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Natalie Brenner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-because-society-places-pressure/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emotion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-because-society-places-pressure/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/natalie-brenner-28797_emotions_too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-bec_1671556.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Too many men I know experience shame because society places pressure on them to withhold emotion: emotion…” — Natalie Brenner", "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": "Natalie Brenner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-brenner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Too many men I know experience...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-because-society-places-pressure/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-brenner/too-many-men-i-know-experience-shame-because-society-places-pressure/#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 } } ] } ```