--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only a rebuke that 'has something in it'…" description: "\"Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.\" — Sigmund Freud" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg" --- # Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will… ![“Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.” quote by Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg) > “Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.” [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A criticism that contains substance provokes emotional response, whereas a superficial rebuke does not. **In simple terms:** Deep criticism hurts; shallow criticism doesn’t. Key Takeaway Seek constructive, substantive feedback. Themes psychology communication criticism emotion growth Mood analytical thoughtful Type reflective introspective When to use this quote - work reviews - personal relationships - educational settings - conflict resolution Key Concepts critical thinking emotional intelligence feedback dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When have you felt hurt by an empty criticism? - How can you give feedback that truly helps? A Different Perspective Harsh words without depth can still cause pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1899](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1899-340/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Power Stir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-stir-588958/) [Rebuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rebuke/) [Rebuke Sting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rebuke-sting-588957/) [Stir Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stir-feelings-588956/) ## Related quotes > [“Accordingly, identification, or the formation of composite figures, serves different purposes: first, to represent a feature both persons have in common; secondly, to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/accordingly-identification-or-the-formation-of-composite-figures/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Our memory has no guarantees at all, and yet we bow more often than is objectively justified to the compulsion to believe what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/our-memory-has-no-guarantees-at-all-and-yet-we-bow-more-often-than-is/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“The dream has a very striking way of dealing with the category of opposites and contradictions . This is simply disregarded. To the dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-dream-has-a-very-striking-way-of-dealing-with-the-category-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“It hurt her to stir up these feelings, but yet she knew that that was the best part of her soul, and that that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-hurt-her-to-stir-up-these-feelings-but-yet-she-knew-that-that-was/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/make-no-small-plans-for-they-have-no-power-to-stir-the-soul/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“Whenever they are condemning weaves or breast implants, some people speak so passionately that their false teeth almost fall out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/whenever-they-are-condemning-weaves-or-breast-implants-some-people/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Religion has clearly performed great services for human civilization. It has contributed much towards the taming of the asocial instincts. But not enough. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/religion-has-clearly-performed-great-services-for-human-civilization/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Combativeness was, I suppose, the dominant trait in my grandmother's nature. An aggressive churchgoer, she was quite without Christian feeling; the mercy of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/combativeness-was-i-suppose-the-dominant-trait-in-my-grandmother-s/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Anger and just rebuke, and judgment given, That brought into this world a world of woe, Sin and her shadow Death, and Misery, Death's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/anger-and-just-rebuke-and-judgment-given-that-brought-into-this-world/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [He does not show humility who accuses himself (for who will not accept rebukes from himself?), but he who, being rebuked by another, does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-climacus/he-does-not-show-humility-who-accuses-himself-for-who-will-not-accept/) [John Climacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-climacus/) > [Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/holding-on-to-anger-is-like-grasping-a-hot-coal-with-the-intent-of/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [People who have a seeking heart still make mistakes. But their reaction to rebuke and correction shows the condition of that heart. It determines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cymbala/people-who-have-a-seeking-heart-still-make-mistakes-but-their/) [Jim Cymbala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cymbala/) > [If you're going to offer a position of great power and importance to somebody, you're not gonna do that publicly unless you know they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/if-you-re-going-to-offer-a-position-of-great-power-and-importance-to/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“Leaders spend time reviewing their mistakes rather than having fantasies over their achievements! They look for every way to do the undone!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/leaders-spend-time-reviewing-their-mistakes-rather-than-having/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [England expects every man to do his duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/england-expects-every-man-to-do-his-duty/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) ## More by Sigmund Freud > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Woe to you, my Princess, when I come. I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/woe-to-you-my-princess-when-i-come-i-will-kiss-you-quite-red-and-feed/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Ko postavlja pitanje o smislu zivota,s njegovim libidom nije nesto u redu.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/ko-postavlja-pitanje-o-smislu-zivota-s-njegovim-libidom-nije-nesto-u/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“When it comes to the small matters in life one should think long and hard, but when it comes to the big ones -whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-comes-to-the-small-matters-in-life-one-should-think-long-and/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We like to forget that in fact everything in our life is chance, from our genesis out of the encounter of spermatozoon and egg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-like-to-forget-that-in-fact-everything-in-our-life-is-chance-from/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We should picture the instrument that carries our mental functioning as resembling a compound microscope or photographic apparatus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-should-picture-the-instrument-that-carries-our-mental-functioning/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass-delusions of this kind. No one, needless to say, who shares a delusion ever recognizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-religions-of-mankind-must-be-classed-among-the-mass-delusions-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [It seems to be my fate to discover only the obvious: that children have sexual feelings, which every nurse maid knows; and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-seems-to-be-my-fate-to-discover-only-the-obvious-that-children/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-first-requisite-of-civilization-is-that-of-justice/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Actually, the substitution of the reality-principle for the pleasure-principle denotes no dethronement of the pleasure-principle, but only a safeguarding of it. A momentary pleasure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/actually-the-substitution-of-the-reality-principle-for-the-pleasure/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/dreams-are-often-most-profound-when-they-seem-the-most-crazy/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [There is to my mind no doubt that the concept of beautiful had its roots in sexual excitation and that its original meaning was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/there-is-to-my-mind-no-doubt-that-the-concept-of-beautiful-had-its/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The voice of the intellect is soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-voice-of-the-intellect-is-soft-one-but-it-does-not-rest-until-it/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) [Explore all 608 Sigmund Freud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## More 1899 quotes > [“The dream has a very striking way of dealing with the category of opposites and contradictions . This is simply disregarded. To the dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-dream-has-a-very-striking-way-of-dealing-with-the-category-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Our memory has no guarantees at all, and yet we bow more often than is objectively justified to the compulsion to believe what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/our-memory-has-no-guarantees-at-all-and-yet-we-bow-more-often-than-is/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Accordingly, identification, or the formation of composite figures, serves different purposes: first, to represent a feature both persons have in common; secondly, to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/accordingly-identification-or-the-formation-of-composite-figures/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) [Browse all 4 1899 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1899-340/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other sort, as we know.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sigmund Freud" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-will-sting-will-have-the-power/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "1899" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-will-sting-will-have-the-power/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/sigmund-freud-360_1899_only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-w_834608.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only a rebuke that 'has something in it' will sting, will have the power to stir our feelings, not the other…” — Sigmund Freud", "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": "Sigmund Freud", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Only a rebuke that 'has something...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-will-sting-will-have-the-power/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/only-a-rebuke-that-has-something-in-it-will-sting-will-have-the-power/#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 } } ] } ```