I want/need peace of heart

[Untaught88]

Hi,

Are the following sentences correct?
1) My heart wants/needs peace.
2) I want/need peace of heart.

 

[GoesStation]

The first is correct. The second isn't; you can need peace of mind, but not peace of heart.

 

[Skrej]

I disagree, 'peace of heart' works for me just as well as 'peace of mind'. Hearts, as well as minds, can be conflicted.

I would agree 'peace of mind' is more common, but that doesn't make 'peace of heart' wrong, in my opinion.

 

[GoesStation]

I disagree, 'peace of heart' works for me just as well as 'peace of mind'. Hearts, as well as minds, can be conflicted.

I would agree 'peace of mind' is more common, but that doesn't make 'peace of heart' wrong, in my opinion.

Google's ngram viewer shows that "peace of heart" barely exists in English-language literature. Perhaps it ought to, but I would not suggest that anyone studying English as a foreign language use the term.

 

[Skrej]

The OP's question was whether the phrase was acceptable. Frequency of use is a different question.

It may be helpful to point out which is more common, but incorrect to say it's wrong or deem it unacceptable simply because it's not widely used. It does not strike me as unnatural, either.

 

[GoesStation]

Maybe I shouldn't have said peace of heart is incorrect. It isn't used, though, so if OP wishes to be understood, he'll use some other phrase.

 

[Barb_D]

There are some people who can twist a phrase and create a new one. There are others who will be suspected of not understanding the expressions that already exist.

I am with Goes on this. Most people hearing a non-native speaker use "peace of heart" will wonder whether they are mixed up and mean "peace of mind." I suppose if you gave a longer sentence, like "I needed peace of mind... and peace of heart too, for that matter" it would be understood. However, as a stand-alone phrase that doesn't link to the common expression "peace of mind," it's likely to cause confusion.

 

[Skrej]

Maybe I shouldn't have said peace of heart is incorrect. It isn't used, though, so if OP wishes to be understood, he'll use some other phrase.

Perhaps somebody should inform various churches, choirs, and the editor of this Huffington Post article that 'peace of heart' isn't used.

It is understood by some people, apparently just not by others. Anybody who has spent any time in church listening to sermons will have certainly heard it. Perhaps that's where it tickles my memory, but it certainly isn't new, creative, or even particularly original.

I fail to see how it can be at all confusing. A similar variant is 'peace of soul'. All of them (heart, mind, soul) are catchphrases and buzzwords for mental healing, soulful atonement, acceptance of fate, blah, blah.

 

[GoesStation]

In my brief presence here, this forum has revealed several English expressions I'd never seen nor heard before. Here's another one.

Still, I've read pretty widely and managed to remain unaware of peace of heart for sixty years. On the other hand, I've only been in a Catholic church for a service once in my life, so I may have been in the wrong milieu for this expression. I stand by my recommendation that OP find a clearer way to express the idea -- unless he uses peace of heart immediately after peace of mind.