Alfred Adler - Kazuo Ishiguro - Mike Tyson - Penn & Teller TV - Anthon St Maaten - F Scott Fitzgerald - J D Salinger -
Exaggerated sensitiveness is an expression of the feeling of inferiority. Alfred Adler
I made my exit, and it was not until after I had done so that it occurred to me I had not actually offered her my condolences. I could well imagine the blow the news would be to her, her aunt having been, to all intents and purposes, like a mother to her, and I paused out in the corridor, wondering if I should go back, knock and make good my omission. But then it occurred to me that if I were to do so, I might easily intrude upon her private grief. Indeed, it was not impossible that Miss Kenton, at that very moment, and only a few feet from me, was actually crying. The thought provoked a strange feeling to rise within me, causing me to stand there hovering in the corridor for some moments. But eventually I judged it best to await another opportunity to express my sympathy and went on my way. Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
My biggest weakness is my sensitivity. I am too sensitive a person. Mike Tyson
Sensitivity Training - yeah baby! ... It’s here to save us all. Penn & Teller, Bullshit! s6e7: Sensitivity Training, Showtime 2008
Companies are doing the sensitivity dance just to stay out of court. ibid.
Highly sensitive people are too often perceived as weaklings or damaged goods. To feel intensely is not a symptom of weakness, it is the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate. It is not the empath who is broken, it is society that has become dysfunctional and emotionally disabled. There is no shame in expressing your authentic feelings. Those who are at times described as being a ‘hot mess’ or having ‘too many issues’ are the very fabric of what keeps the dream alive for a more caring, humane world. Never be ashamed to let your tears shine a light in this world. Anthon St Maarten
If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the ‘creative temperament’ – it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No – Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men. F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Sensitive. That killed me. That guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddamn toilet seat. J D Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye