--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is…" description: "\"“The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is itself the confirmation of injury. The call of such pain, as a pain that cannot be shared through empathy, is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg" --- # The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is itself the… ![“The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is itself the confirmation of injury. The call of such pain, as a pain that cannot be shared through empathy, is a call not just for an attentive hearing, but for a different kind of inhabitance. It is a call for action, and a demand for collective politics…” quote by Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg) > ““The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is itself the confirmation of injury. The call of such pain, as a pain that cannot be shared through empathy, is a call not just for an attentive hearing, but for a different kind of inhabitance. It is a call for action, and a demand for collective politics, as a politics based not on the possibility that we might be reconciled, but on learning to live with the impossibility of reconciliation, or learning that we live with and beside each other, and yet we are not as one”” [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The impossibility of shared feeling highlights injury and demands collective action beyond empathy. **In simple terms:** Pain that can’t be shared calls for new politics. Key Takeaway Act on shared pain without expecting full empathy. Themes pain empathy politics collective action Mood critical urgent Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - community building - policy advocacy Key Concepts Injury theory social solidarity ethical responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can we act when empathy fails? - What alternatives to empathy exist? A Different Perspective Shared pain may be misinterpreted or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Fellow feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fellow-feeling/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Peacebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacebuilding/) ## Related quotes > [Whether joy or sorrowful, the heart needs a double, because a joy shared is doubled and a pain that is shared is divided..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/whether-joy-or-sorrowful-the-heart-needs-a-double-because-a-joy/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Pain shared is pain lessened; joy shared is joy increased. Thus do we refute entropy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spider-robinson/pain-shared-is-pain-lessened-joy-shared-is-joy-increased-thus-do-we/) [Spider Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spider-robinson/) > [Strength of the Heart comes from knowing that the pain that we each must bear is part of the greater pain shared by all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/strength-of-the-heart-comes-from-knowing-that-the-pain-that-we-each/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [“Tessa distinguished absolutely between pain observed and pain shared. Pain observed is journalistic pain. It’s diplomatic pain. It’s television pain, over as soon as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/tessa-distinguished-absolutely-between-pain-observed-and-pain-shared/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [Discomfort of any kind becomes the basis for practice. We breathe in knowing our pain is shared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/discomfort-of-any-kind-becomes-the-basis-for-practice-we-breathe-in/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Nearly everyone has had a box of secret pain, shared with no one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/nearly-everyone-has-had-a-box-of-secret-pain-shared-with-no-one/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“But no - I was his wife, and it was my duty to share his pain as I shared his success. I walked out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-brennert/but-no-i-was-his-wife-and-it-was-my-duty-to-share-his-pain-as-i/) [Alan Brennert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-brennert/) > [“Nearly everybody has his box of secret pain, shared with no one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/nearly-everybody-has-his-box-of-secret-pain-shared-with-no-one/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Pain shared, my brother, is pain not doubled, but halved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/pain-shared-my-brother-is-pain-not-doubled-but-halved/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [ The book and the film \[This Changes Everything\] fed into each other in ways that were compounding and very exciting. The pain was shared. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi-lewis/the-book-and-the-film-this-changes-everything-fed-into-each-other-in/) [Avi Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi-lewis/) > [Pain shared, my brother, is pain not doubled but halved. No man is an island](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/pain-shared-my-brother-is-pain-not-doubled-but-halved-no-man-is-an/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“I have a particularly bad feeling about all this,” said Fat Charlie, helpfully. Spider nodded. “A bad feeling,” he said. “Yes. We both have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-have-a-particularly-bad-feeling-about-all-this-said-fat-charlie/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Yes. We both have a bad feeling. Tonight we shall take our bad feelings and share them, and face them. We shall mourn. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/yes-we-both-have-a-bad-feeling-tonight-we-shall-take-our-bad-feelings/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [In our large cities, the population is godless, materialized,--no bond, no fellow-feeling, no enthusiasm. These are not men, but hungers, thirsts, fevers, and appetites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-our-large-cities-the-population-is-godless-materialized-no-bond-no/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Religion has always been a matter of community building; a matter of building precisely those relations of compassion, fellow feeling and - I dare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/religion-has-always-been-a-matter-of-community-building-a-matter-of/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) ## More by Sara Ahmed > [“Feminist consciousness can be thought of as consciousness of the violence and power concealed under the languages of civility, happiness, and love, rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/feminist-consciousness-can-be-thought-of-as-consciousness-of-the/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“If we start close to home, we open ourselves out. I will try to show how, in making sense of things that happen, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/if-we-start-close-to-home-we-open-ourselves-out-i-will-try-to-show/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“The personal is theoretical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/the-personal-is-theoretical/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“Where we find happiness teaches us what we value rather than simply what is of value.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/where-we-find-happiness-teaches-us-what-we-value-rather-than-simply/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“Let's take the figure of the feminist killjoy seriously. One feminist project could be to give the killjoy back her voice. Whilst hearing feminists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/let-s-take-the-figure-of-the-feminist-killjoy-seriously-one-feminist/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“When you expose a problem you pose a problem. It might then be assumed that the problem would go away if you would just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/when-you-expose-a-problem-you-pose-a-problem-it-might-then-be-assumed/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“But think of this: those of us who arrive in an academy that was not shaped by or for us bring knowledges, as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/but-think-of-this-those-of-us-who-arrive-in-an-academy-that-was-not/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“To live a feminist life is to make everything into something that is questionable. The question of how to live a feminist life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/to-live-a-feminist-life-is-to-make-everything-into-something-that-is/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“I think of feminism as poetry; we hear histories in words; we reassemble histories by putting them into words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/i-think-of-feminism-as-poetry-we-hear-histories-in-words-we/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“Queer and feminist worlds are built through the effort to support those who are not supported because of who they are, what they want,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/queer-and-feminist-worlds-are-built-through-the-effort-to-support/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“To be a feminist at work is or should be about how we challenge ordinary and everyday sexism, including academic sexism. This is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/to-be-a-feminist-at-work-is-or-should-be-about-how-we-challenge/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“By using the idea of sweaty concepts, I am also trying to show how descriptive work is conceptual work. A concept is worldly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/by-using-the-idea-of-sweaty-concepts-i-am-also-trying-to-show-how/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/solidarity-does-not-assume-that-our-struggles-are-the-same-struggles/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [“A significant step for a feminist movement is to recognize what has not ended. And this step is a very hard step. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/a-significant-step-for-a-feminist-movement-is-to-recognize-what-has/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) > [Let’s take this figure of the feminist killjoy seriously. Does the feminist kill other people’s joy by pointing out moments of sexism? Or does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/let-s-take-this-figure-of-the-feminist-killjoy-seriously-does-the/) [Sara Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) [Explore all 17 Sara Ahmed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/) ## More Empathy quotes > [I have a lot of empathy, and I think that's where mothering starts. You are there to empathise and facilitate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/i-have-a-lot-of-empathy-and-i-think-that-s-where-mothering-starts-you/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [When you need empathy, you cannot give empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/when-you-need-empathy-you-cannot-give-empathy/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [Cinematography speaks to everything that women do inherently well: It's multitasking, it's empathy, and it's channeling visuals into human emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-morrison/cinematography-speaks-to-everything-that-women-do-inherently-well-it/) [Rachel Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-morrison/) > [“God has a way of picking a “nobody” and turning their world upside down, in order to create a “somebody” that will remove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-has-a-way-of-picking-a-nobody-and-turning-their-world-upside-down/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“Understanding breeds empathy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/understanding-breeds-empathy/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [ That is another theme in the book \[Dreams from My Father\]. How do we exercise more empathy in our public discourse? How do we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/that-is-another-theme-in-the-book-dreams-from-my-father-how-do-we/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Making a movie is about following characters and embarking on an adventure with them, seeing their reactions, and seeing what they do, having empathy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franck-khalfoun/making-a-movie-is-about-following-characters-and-embarking-on-an/) Franck Khalfoun > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Empathic listening takes time, but it doesn't take anywhere near as much time as it takes to back up and correct misunderstandings when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/empathic-listening-takes-time-but-it-doesn-t-take-anywhere-near-as/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [I try to treat every job with the exact same level of respect. When I go into it, it doesn't matter what the budget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaya-scodelario/i-try-to-treat-every-job-with-the-exact-same-level-of-respect-when-i/) [Kaya Scodelario](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaya-scodelario/) > [“CWC (Church Women Concerned) enabled us as women in that part of South Africa, to see ourselves as ordinary citizens who found themselves in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sindiwe-magona/cwc-church-women-concerned-enabled-us-as-women-in-that-part-of-south/) Sindiwe Magona > [Ultimately, my character is defined by the quality of my sensitivity to other people. I exist in equilibrium. I am here to the degree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-prather/ultimately-my-character-is-defined-by-the-quality-of-my-sensitivity/) [Hugh Prather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-prather/) > [I began to use my sensitivity. And I realized I wasn't weird because I cried a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherilyn-fenn/i-began-to-use-my-sensitivity-and-i-realized-i-wasn-t-weird-because-i/) [Sherilyn Fenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherilyn-fenn/) > [“The emotional intelligence model consists of four clusters: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.  ● Self-Awareness is a propensity for self-reflection and thoughtfulness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-bolton/the-emotional-intelligence-model-consists-of-four-clusters-self/) [Chuck Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-bolton/) > [I need voices of reason and of hysteria and of empathy. I need to have an Alanis moment. I need advice from Elizabeth Bennett.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/i-need-voices-of-reason-and-of-hysteria-and-of-empathy-i-need-to-have/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) [Browse all 2,480 Empathy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is itself the confirmation of injury. The call of such pain, as a pain that cannot be shared through empathy, is a call not just for an attentive hearing, but for a different kind of inhabitance. It is a call for action, and a demand for collective politics, as a politics based not on the possibility that we might be reconciled, but on learning to live with the impossibility of reconciliation, or learning that we live with and beside each other, and yet we are not as one”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sara Ahmed" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-itself-the-confirmation-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Empathy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-itself-the-confirmation-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/sara-ahmed-31000_empathy_the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-i_2893641.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is itself the confirmation of injury. The call of such pain, as a pain…” — Sara Ahmed", "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": "Sara Ahmed", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ahmed/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The impossibility of 'fellow feeling' is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-itself-the-confirmation-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ahmed/the-impossibility-of-fellow-feeling-is-itself-the-confirmation-of/#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 } } ] } ```