In a comment to one of the other answers, you [said][1] that he is "a man with lovely feelings that he keeps private." It seems to me that [**private**][2] would work well: > [Merriam-Webster] > > **3 a** : withdrawn from company or observation > // a private retreat > **b** : not known or intended to be known publicly : SECRET > **c** : preferring to keep personal affairs to oneself : valuing privacy highly So: > In general, he is private. Or: > In general, he is a private person. I qualified this with *in general* because, as you said, he doesn't *always* keep things to himself, and not with everyone. You could also say that it's his sense of *privacy* that keeps his emotions hidden from other people. --- In terms of your example sentence, if you're looking for a quality that actively *enables* him to keep his emotions to himself, I would say: > His ***self-composed*** **nature** enabled him to hide his strong emotions from others. Merriam-Webster defines [*self-composed*][3] as: > : having control over one's emotions : CALM [1]: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/478942/a-word-for-hiding-strong-emotions/479008#comment1156282_478959 [2]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/private [3]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-composed