The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Feeling vs thinking. When the narrator says "I felt before I thought, which is the common lot of men." What does that mean to you?

The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume E

Jean-Jacques Rousseau "Confessions" page 57

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To me, it means that most of us tend to act from emotion before thinking about what we do. If we took the time to think things through before we react, words of anger might be eliminated, as would many of the misunderstandings we find ourselves embroiled in. It is easy to misinterpret the words of others..... we often filter what we hear to suit the "feelings" we have at the time. "I felt before I thought" can be applied to countless situations that regularly occur in our lives, and many of our decisions (and mistakes) can be blamed on rash behaviors that aren't thought through.