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It is so many years before one can believe enough in what one feels even to know what the feeling is
William Butler Yeats
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding our emotions takes time and introspection.

This quote by William Butler Yeats reflects on the complexities of human emotions and the struggle to truly comprehend one’s feelings. It suggests that it often takes years of experience and reflection before we can fully believe in and articulate what we feel, highlighting the deep interplay between time, understanding, and emotional awareness.

Themes

EmotionUnderstandingReflectionFeelingsSelf-Awareness

In practice

Example use cases

During a workshop on emotional intelligence, I quoted Yeats to emphasize the journey of understanding our emotions.

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If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
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But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
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How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
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Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action, for we would not change that which we love.
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