Ask Difference

Soul vs. Heart — What's the Difference?

By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 1, 2024
The soul is often seen as the spiritual or eternal part of a being, embodying essence and identity, while the heart is viewed as the center of emotion, affection, and moral inclination.
Soul vs. Heart — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Soul and Heart

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Key Differences

The concept of the soul is rooted in spiritual, religious, and philosophical traditions, symbolizing the immaterial and eternal aspect of a human being. It's considered the true essence of an individual, housing consciousness, personality, and the moral compass. On the other hand, the heart is often depicted as the seat of emotions, desires, and moral inclinations, playing a pivotal role in literature, art, and common language to express love, courage, and sincerity.
While the soul is thought to transcend physical existence, representing the individual's core identity and continuity beyond death, the heart is associated with the physical and emotional aspects of life, symbolizing passion, empathy, and ethical values. The soul encompasses a broader existential and eternal perspective, whereas the heart focuses on the emotional and moral dimensions of human experience.
In many cultures and belief systems, the soul is linked with the concept of life after death, rebirth, or spiritual liberation, reflecting a universal aspect of human identity that connects with the divine or the universe. Conversely, the heart is often used metaphorically to describe the depth of human feelings and virtues, such as kindness, bravery, and love, highlighting its role in interpersonal relationships and moral judgments.
The distinction between soul and heart can vary widely across different cultural, religious, and philosophical contexts. The soul is generally seen as a more encompassing and metaphysical aspect of being, while the heart is more closely tied to the emotional and ethical experiences within life's temporal bounds.
Despite their differences, both the soul and heart are integral to understanding human nature, each representing essential aspects of individuality, spirituality, and emotional depth. They often intersect in the ways people describe personal experiences, spiritual beliefs, and the complexities of human emotions and morals.
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Comparison Chart

Nature

Spiritual, eternal
Emotional, moral

Representation

Essence, consciousness, identity
Emotion, affection, moral values

Symbolism

Immortality, deeper self
Love, courage, sincerity

Role in Beliefs

Transcendence, afterlife connections
Emotional depth, ethical guidance

Cultural Aspect

Universal, varies by belief system
Universally metaphorical, less varied

Compare with Definitions

Soul

The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being, regarded as immortal.
She believed her soul would find peace after death.

Heart

The central or innermost part of something, symbolizing love or emotion.
She will always hold a special place in my heart.

Soul

The essence of a person's identity and individuality.
His actions reflected the goodness of his soul.

Heart

A symbol of affection or love.
They exchanged heart-shaped gifts on Valentine's Day.

Soul

In religious context, the part of a person believed to live on after death.
The ritual was meant to save his soul.

Heart

The locus of physical and emotional human activity.
He poured his heart into his work.

Soul

A representation of emotional or intellectual energy.
Her music touches the soul.

Heart

The courage or enthusiasm of a person.
She showed great heart in facing her challenges.

Soul

The moral or emotional nature of human beings.
An act of kindness that spoke to the soul.

Heart

A metaphor for the core of moral or ethical character.
His heart is always in the right place.

Soul

In many religious, philosophical, and mythological traditions, the soul is the incorporeal essence of a living being. Soul or psyche (Ancient Greek: ψυχή psykhḗ, of ψύχειν psýkhein, "to breathe", cf.

Heart

The central or innermost part of something
Right in the heart of the city

Soul

The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.

Heart

A conventional representation of a heart with two equal curves meeting at a point at the bottom and a cusp at the top.

Soul

Emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance
Their interpretation lacked soul

Heart

The condition of agricultural land as regards fertility
A well-maintained farm in good heart

Soul

The essence or embodiment of a specified quality
He was the soul of discretion
Brevity is the soul of wit

Heart

Like very much; love
I totally heart this song

Soul

In Aristotelian philosophy, an animating or vital principle inherent in living things and endowing them in various degrees with the potential to grow and reproduce, to move and respond to stimuli (as in the case of animals), and to think rationally (as in the case of humans).

Heart

A similarly functioning structure in invertebrates.

Soul

A human
“the homes of some nine hundred souls” (Garrison Keillor).

Heart

The area that is the approximate location of the heart in the body; the breast.

Soul

A person considered as the embodiment of an intangible quality; a personification
I am the very soul of discretion.

Heart

The vital center and source of one's being, emotions, and sensibilities.

Soul

A person's emotional or moral nature
“An actor is ... often a soul which wishes to reveal itself to the world but dare not” (Alec Guinness).

Heart

The repository of one's deepest and sincerest feelings and beliefs
An appeal from the heart.
A subject dear to her heart.

Soul

The central or integral part; the vital core
“It saddens me that this network ... may lose its soul, which is after all the quest for news” (Marvin Kalb).

Heart

The seat of the intellect or imagination
The worst atrocities the human heart could devise.

Soul

A sense of emotional strength or spiritual vitality held to derive from black and especially African American cultural experience, expressed in areas such as language, social customs, religion, and music.

Heart

Emotional constitution, basic disposition, or character
A man after my own heart.

Soul

Strong, deeply felt emotion conveyed by a speaker, performer, or artist
A performance that had a lot of soul.

Heart

One's prevailing mood or current inclination
We were light of heart.

Soul

Soul music.

Heart

Capacity for sympathy or generosity; compassion
A leader who seems to have no heart.

Soul

The spirit or essence of anything.

Heart

Love; affection
The child won my heart.

Soul

Life, energy, vigor.

Heart

Courage; resolution; fortitude
The soldiers lost heart and retreated.

Soul

(music) Soul music.

Heart

The firmness of will or the callousness required to carry out an unpleasant task or responsibility
Hadn't the heart to send them away without food.

Soul

A person, especially as one among many.

Heart

A person esteemed or admired as lovable, loyal, or courageous
A dear heart.

Soul

An individual life.
Fifty souls were lost when the ship sank.

Heart

The central or innermost physical part of a place or region
The heart of the financial district.

Soul

(math) A kind of submanifold involved in the soul theorem of Riemannian geometry.

Heart

The core of a plant, fruit, or vegetable, such as a heart of palm.

Soul

To endow with a soul or mind.

Heart

The most important or essential part
Get to the heart of the matter.

Soul

To beg on All Soul's Day.

Heart

A conventional two-lobed representation of the heart, usually colored red or pink.

Soul

(obsolete) To afford suitable sustenance.

Heart

A red, heart-shaped figure on certain playing cards.

Soul

Sole.

Heart

A playing card with this figure.

Soul

By or for African-Americans, or characteristic of their culture; as, soul music; soul newspapers; soul food.

Heart

Hearts (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The suit of cards represented by this figure.

Soul

To afford suitable sustenance.

Heart

A card game in which the object is either to avoid hearts when taking tricks or to take all the hearts.

Soul

To indue with a soul; to furnish with a soul or mind.

Heart

(Slang) To have great liking or affection for
I heart chocolate chip cookies!.

Soul

The spiritual, rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government; - sometimes, in distinction from the higher nature, or spirit, of man, the so-called animal soul, that is, the seat of life, the sensitive affections and phantasy, exclusive of the voluntary and rational powers; - sometimes, in distinction from the mind, the moral and emotional part of man's nature, the seat of feeling, in distinction from intellect; - sometimes, the intellect only; the understanding; the seat of knowledge, as distinguished from feeling. In a more general sense, "an animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle of individual personal existence."
The eyes of our souls only then begin to see, when our bodily eyes are closing.

Heart

(Archaic) To encourage; hearten.

Soul

The seat of real life or vitality; the source of action; the animating or essential part.
Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul.

Heart

(uncountable) One's feelings and emotions, especially considered as part of one's character.
She has a cold heart.

Soul

The leader; the inspirer; the moving spirit; the heart; as, the soul of an enterprise; an able general is the soul of his army.
He is the very soul of bounty!

Heart

The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, etc.; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; usually in a good sense; personality.
A good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart

Soul

Energy; courage; spirit; fervor; affection, or any other noble manifestation of the heart or moral nature; inherent power or goodness.
That he wants algebra he must confess;But not a soul to give our arms success.

Heart

Emotional strength that allows one to continue in difficult situations; courage; spirit; a will to compete.
The team lost, but they showed a lot of heart.

Soul

A human being; a person; - a familiar appellation, usually with a qualifying epithet; as, poor soul.
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
God forbid so many simple soulsShould perish by the sword!
Now mistress Gilpin (careful soul).

Heart

Vigorous and efficient activity; power of fertile production; condition of the soil, whether good or bad.

Soul

A pure or disembodied spirit.
That to his only Son . . . every soul in heavenShall bend the knee.

Heart

(archaic) A term of affectionate or kindly and familiar address.
Listen, dear heart, we must go now.

Soul

A perceived shared community and awareness among African-Americans.

Heart

Memory.
I know almost every Beatles song by heart.

Soul

Soul music.

Heart

(figurative) A wight or being.

Soul

The immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life

Heart

A conventional shape or symbol used to represent the heart, love, or emotion: ♥ or sometimes <3.

Soul

A human being;
There was too much for one person to do

Heart

A playing card of the suit hearts featuring one or more heart-shaped symbols.

Soul

Deep feeling or emotion

Heart

(cartomancy) The twenty-fourth Lenormand card.

Soul

The human embodiment of something;
The soul of honor

Heart

(figurative) The centre, essence, or core.
The wood at the heart of a tree is the oldest.
Buddhists believe that suffering is right at the heart of all life.

Soul

A secular form of gospel that was a major Black musical genre in the 1960s and 1970s;
Soul was politically significant during the Civil Rights movement

Heart

To be fond of. Often bracketed or abbreviated with a heart symbol.

Heart

To give heart to; to hearten; to encourage.

Heart

To fill an interior with rubble, as a wall or a breakwater.

Heart

To form a dense cluster of leaves, a heart, especially of lettuce or cabbage.

Heart

The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, and the like; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; - usually in a good sense, when no epithet is expressed; the better or lovelier part of our nature; the spring of all our actions and purposes; the seat of moral life and character; the moral affections and character itself; the individual disposition and character; as, a good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart.
Hearts are dust, hearts' loves remain.

Heart

The nearest the middle or center; the part most hidden and within; the inmost or most essential part of any body or system; the source of life and motion in any organization; the chief or vital portion; the center of activity, or of energetic or efficient action; as, the heart of a country, of a tree, etc.
Exploits done in the heart of France.
Peace subsisting at the heartOf endless agitation.

Heart

Courage; courageous purpose; spirit.
Eve, recovering heart, replied.
The expelled nations take heart, and when they fly from one country invade another.

Heart

Vigorous and efficient activity; power of fertile production; condition of the soil, whether good or bad.
That the spent earth may gather heart again.

Heart

That which resembles a heart in shape; especially, a roundish or oval figure or object having an obtuse point at one end, and at the other a corresponding indentation, - used as a symbol or representative of the heart.

Heart

One of the suits of playing cards, distinguished by the figure or figures of a heart; as, hearts are trumps.

Heart

Vital part; secret meaning; real intention.
And then show you the heart of my message.

Heart

A term of affectionate or kindly and familiar address.

Heart

To give heart to; to hearten; to encourage; to inspirit.
My cause is hearted; thine hath no less reason.

Heart

To form a compact center or heart; as, a hearting cabbage.

Heart

The locus of feelings and intuitions;
In your heart you know it is true
Her story would melt your bosom

Heart

The courage to carry on;
He kept fighting on pure spunk
You haven't got the heart for baseball

Heart

An area that is approximately central within some larger region;
It is in the center of town
They ran forward into the heart of the struggle
They were in the eye of the storm

Heart

The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience;
The gist of the prosecutor's argument
The heart and soul of the Republican Party
The nub of the story

Heart

An inclination or tendency of a certain kind;
He had a change of heart

Heart

A plane figure with rounded sides curving inward at the top and intersecting at the bottom; conventionally used on playing cards and valentines;
He drew a heart and called it a valentine

Heart

A firm rather dry variety meat (usually beef or veal);
A five-pound beef heart will serve six

Heart

A positive feeling of liking;
He had trouble expressing the affection he felt
The child won everyone's heart

Heart

A playing card in the major suit of hearts;
He led the queen of hearts

Common Curiosities

Do all cultures differentiate between soul and heart?

Most cultures have distinct concepts of soul and heart, but their interpretations and the importance attributed to each can vary significantly.

How do the soul and heart contribute to personal identity?

The soul is thought to encapsulate one's true essence and consciousness, while the heart reflects one's emotions, morals, and capacity for love, together defining aspects of personal identity.

How do the concepts of soul and heart affect human behavior?

Beliefs about the soul and heart shape values, ethics, and emotional expressions, guiding behavior through spiritual aspirations and emotional connections.

Can the soul exist without the heart, and vice versa?

In a metaphorical sense, the soul and heart are seen as essential to each other, with the soul providing depth and continuity to one's being, and the heart offering emotional and moral guidance.

Can the soul and heart influence each other?

Yes, the soul and heart are interconnected, with each influencing and reflecting the other's state in philosophical, spiritual, and emotional contexts.

Is the heart solely related to emotions?

While primarily associated with emotions, the heart also symbolizes moral qualities and courage, making it central to one's ethical and emotional being.

Do modern interpretations of soul and heart differ from traditional views?

Modern interpretations tend to emphasize psychological and emotional dimensions, while traditional views often focus more on spiritual and moral aspects.

Is the concept of the soul religious?

While deeply rooted in religious beliefs, the concept of the soul also occupies a significant place in philosophical and metaphysical discussions beyond strictly religious contexts.

What fundamentally differentiates the soul from the heart?

The soul represents the spiritual, eternal aspect of being, while the heart is seen as the center of emotion and moral values.

Is the heart always depicted positively?

While often viewed positively, the heart can also represent vulnerability, emotional turmoil, or moral dilemmas, reflecting the complexity of human emotions.

How do soul and heart relate to consciousness?

The soul is sometimes equated with or seen as the bearer of consciousness, while the heart is related to the emotional experiences and reactions within consciousness.

Does the concept of the soul have a scientific basis?

The concept of the soul primarily belongs to spiritual, religious, and philosophical realms, with science focusing on the mind and consciousness without invoking the soul per se.

Can the heart be educated or trained?

Metaphorically, educating the heart refers to developing emotional intelligence, empathy, and moral virtues, suggesting it can be nurtured and developed over time.

What role does the soul play in art and literature?

In art and literature, the soul often symbolizes depth, authenticity, and the profound aspects of human experience, inspiring themes of transcendence, emotion, and existential inquiry.

How is the heart used symbolically in culture?

Symbolically, the heart represents love, bravery, and the essence of human emotional and moral life, widely used in literature, art, and everyday language to convey these themes.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza Rafique
Fiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.

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