QuoteProject
Never say you know the last word about any human heart.
Henry James
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Human emotions and hearts are complex and ever-changing, making it impossible to fully understand them.

Henry James highlights the intricacy and unpredictability of human emotions, suggesting that one can never claim to completely understand or define the depths of another person's feelings. This statement encourages humility in our judgments about others and reminds us that every individual's inner life is rich and nuanced, often beyond our comprehension.

Themes

Human HeartEmotionsUnderstandingComplexityRelationships

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion about emotional intelligence and relationships, this quote can illustrate the complexity of understanding others.

More from Henry James

The deepest quality of a work of art will always be the quality of the mind of the producer...No good novel will ever proceed from a superficial mind.
Henry JamesRead
What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?
Henry JamesRead
I adore adverbs; they are the only qualifications I really much respect.
Henry JamesRead
We care what happens to people only in proportion as we know what people are.
Henry JamesRead
A swift carriage, of a dark night, rattling with four horses over roads that one can’t see--that’s my idea of happiness.
Henry JamesRead
Of course what he most intensely dreams of is being taken out on walks, and the more you are able to indulge him the more will he adore you and the more all the latent beauty of his nature will come out.
Henry JamesRead

Similar quotes

Some racists still reject the plain testimony written in the DNA that all the races are not only human but nearly indistinguishable. . . .
Carl SaganRead
All of us are made up of the stories that we listen to, the ones we disagree with and the ones that we agree with.
Stanley CrouchRead
The principal thing in the world is to keep the soul aloft.
Gustave FlaubertRead
Through money, democracy becomes its own destroyer, after money has destroyed intellect.
Oswald SpenglerRead
We are born and reborn countless number of times, and it is possible that each being has been our parent at one time or another. Therefore, it is likely that all beings in this universe have familial connections.
Dalai LamaRead
The natural tendency of representative government, as of modern civilisation, is towards collective mediocrity: and this tendency is increased by all reductions and extensions of the franchise, their effect being to place the principal power in the hands of classes more and more below the highest level of instruction in the community.
John Stuart MillRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.