--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By heart, this is not an expression I use…" description: "\"“By heart, this is not an expression I use lightly. My heart is weak and unreliable.”\" — Nicole Krauss" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/nicole-krauss-920_heart_by-heart-this-is-not-an-expression-i-use_120396.png" --- # By heart, this is not an expression I use lightly. My… ![“By heart, this is not an expression I use lightly. My heart is weak and unreliable.” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/nicole-krauss-920_heart_by-heart-this-is-not-an-expression-i-use_120396.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/nicole-krauss-920_heart_by-heart-this-is-not-an-expression-i-use_120396.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/670/nicole-krauss-920_heart_by-heart-this-is-not-an-expression-i-use_120396.png) > ““By heart, this is not an expression I use lightly. My heart is weak and unreliable.”” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker treats emotional expression as a serious, rare act because of personal fragility and unreliability. **In simple terms:** I rarely open my heart. Key Takeaway Emotional vulnerability is scarce. Themes emotion vulnerability self‑awareness fragility Mood somber introspective Type personal confession philosophical reflection When to use this quote - confessing love - sharing trauma - public speaking Key Concepts psychological self‑protection Practical Applications - gradual trust‑building - therapeutic journaling Questions to Reflect On - When is restraint protective versus harmful? - How can one balance honesty and self‑care? A Different Perspective Suppressing feelings may hinder authentic connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heart Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-expression-1405403/) [Heart Weak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-weak-840624/) [Lightly Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightly-heart-1405404/) [Weak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weak/) ## Related quotes > [Sweet love, sweet thorn, when lightly to my heart. I took your thrust, whereby I since am slain, And I lie disheveled in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/sweet-love-sweet-thorn-when-lightly-to-my-heart-i-took-your-thrust/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Gratitude takes three forms: a feeling in the heart, an expression in words, and a giving in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wanamaker/gratitude-takes-three-forms-a-feeling-in-the-heart-an-expression-in/) [John Wanamaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wanamaker/) > [Respect the emotion in someones heart rather than the expression on someones faces. Because expression is just formality but emotions are reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/respect-the-emotion-in-someones-heart-rather-than-the-expression-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The H and its accompanying heart were an expression of, in my mind, heart hospital. Or heart doctor. And not, as I later discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/durga-chew-bose/the-h-and-its-accompanying-heart-were-an-expression-of-in-my-mind/) [Durga Chew-Bose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/durga-chew-bose/) > [Respect the emotions in someone's heart rather than the expression on someone's face. Because expression is just a formality, but emotions are reality. 28…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/respect-the-emotions-in-someone-s-heart-rather-than-the-expression-on-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Respect the emotions in someones heart,rather than the expression on someones face because expression is just a formality but emotions are reality..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ur-my-destiny/respect-the-emotions-in-someones-heart-rather-than-the-expression-on/) [Ur My Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ur-my-destiny/) > [Respect the emotions in someone's heart rather than the expression on someone's face. Because expression is just a formality, but emotions are reality...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/respect-the-emotions-in-someone-s-heart-rather-than-the-expression-on/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Love is the only answer to every question. It is the only thing that will serve you in every situation. It is the route…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/love-is-the-only-answer-to-every-question-it-is-the-only-thing-that/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) > [“Money doesn’t help if your mind is poor; strength doesn’t help if your heart is weak; possessions don’t help if your soul is empty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/money-doesn-t-help-if-your-mind-is-poor-strength-doesn-t-help-if-your/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [There are things of which I may not speak; There are dreams that cannot die; There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/there-are-things-of-which-i-may-not-speak-there-are-dreams-that/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [You resided in my heart that was weak even after my brain decided to let you out of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-rampersaud/you-resided-in-my-heart-that-was-weak-even-after-my-brain-decided-to/) [A Rampersaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-rampersaud/) > [“hurt me as hard as you can ; my heart is weak…!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-a-samuel/hurt-me-as-hard-as-you-can-my-heart-is-weak/) [felix a samuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-a-samuel/) > [“The heart may be weak. And sometimes it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tetsuya-nomura/the-heart-may-be-weak-and-sometimes-it-may-even-give-in-but-i-ve/) [Tetsuya Nomura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tetsuya-nomura/) > [My heart is weak, my expectations are broken and my dreams are scorched. My eyes are flowing with tears, and you say to me:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/my-heart-is-weak-my-expectations-are-broken-and-my-dreams-are/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [My bones are brittle, my heart weak and erratic, my esophagus and stomach riddled with ulcers, my reproductive system shot, my immune system useless...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/my-bones-are-brittle-my-heart-weak-and-erratic-my-esophagus-and/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There are times when the kindness of strangers only makes matter worse because one realizes how badly one is in need of kindness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-are-times-when-the-kindness-of-strangers-only-makes-matter/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-was-gone-and-all-that-was-left-was-the-space-where-you-d-grown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I feel really strongly about not wanting to overly guide the reader about what he or she should think. I really trust the reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-feel-really-strongly-about-not-wanting-to-overly-guide-the-reader/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Sometimes no length of string is long enough to say the thing that needs to be said. In such cases all the string can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/sometimes-no-length-of-string-is-long-enough-to-say-the-thing-that/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Doesn’t part of the awe that fills us when we confront the unknown come from understanding that, should it at last flood into us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/doesn-t-part-of-the-awe-that-fills-us-when-we-confront-the-unknown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“I knew how to raise my own child, what did he think it was, a game of Scrabble or Monopoly, there are no rules,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-knew-how-to-raise-my-own-child-what-did-he-think-it-was-a-game-of/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) [Explore all 323 Nicole Krauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More Heart quotes > [Against his own will, almost, Will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/against-his-own-will-almost-will-felt-himself-understanding-he-would/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“He held her like a new woman and what she felt felt almost as good as love had, and each of them called it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/he-held-her-like-a-new-woman-and-what-she-felt-felt-almost-as-good-as/) [Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [My heart jumps out of its cage to see what the fuss is about. Damn thing. Always so hopeful, but my voice hides it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wylie/my-heart-jumps-out-of-its-cage-to-see-what-the-fuss-is-about-damn/) [Sarah Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wylie/) > [I love because there is not enough room in my heart to hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rena-kornreich-gelissen/i-love-because-there-is-not-enough-room-in-my-heart-to-hate/) [Rena Kornreich Gelissen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rena-kornreich-gelissen/) > [“He didn't break my heart. No one can break your heart except you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/he-didn-t-break-my-heart-no-one-can-break-your-heart-except-you/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [The United States cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of religion. The free exercise of religion is at the very heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/the-united-states-cannot-and-should-not-discriminate-on-the-basis-of/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When we are capable of living in the moment free from the tyranny of "shoulds," free from the nagging sensation that this moment isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-z-borysenko/when-we-are-capable-of-living-in-the-moment-free-from-the-tyranny-of/) [Joan Z. Borysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-z-borysenko/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Love will fan the flame, and that flame will warm the heart that's waiting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-smith/love-will-fan-the-flame-and-that-flame-will-warm-the-heart-that-s/) [Michael W. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-smith/) > [Always have the fear of God in your heart, and remember that God is always with you, everywhere, whether you are walking or sitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennadius-of-constantinople/always-have-the-fear-of-god-in-your-heart-and-remember-that-god-is/) [Gennadius of Constantinople](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennadius-of-constantinople/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She couldn't break the orbit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/she-couldn-t-break-the-orbit/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) [Browse all 45,172 Heart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By heart, this is not an expression I use lightly. 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