Quotes About Compassion

The trouble some people have being German, I thought, I have being human. In a way it was stupid to be more disturbed by a dead bird than by those other things, the wars and riots and the massacres in the newspapers. But for the wars and riots there was always an explanation, people wrote books about them saying why they happened: the death of the heron was causeless, undiluted.

Don't let them suffer too much. If they have to die, let it be fast. You might even provide a Heaven for them. We need You for that. Hell we can make for ourselves.

He needs to be listened to, he needs to be heard. He needs at least the illusion of being understood.

he doesn't know it, but this touching she does is not only compassionate, but possessive.

But if you happen to be a man, sometime in the future, and you've made it this far, please remember: you will never be subjected to the temptation of feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman.

Blessed be those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Nobody said when.

There were signs and I missed them. For instance, Crake said once, Would you kill someone you loved to spare them pain? You mean, commit euthanasia? said Jimmy. Like putting down your pet turtle? Just tell me, said Crake. I don't know. What kind of love, what kind of pain?

Being upset is a warmer, close-up feeling, not a chilly distant feeling like laughing at people.

She was a more charitable person than I was; I admired her in that, but I could not emulate her.

But some people can't tell where it hurts. They can't calm down. They can't ever stop howling.

Yes, good, kind Crake. Please stop singing or I can't go on with the story.

He was wrong about the sadness though: far better to have it when you're young. A sad pretty girl inspires the urge to console, unlike a sad old crone.

Why should the other ones in this play get a second chance at life, but not him? Why's he have to suffer so much for being what he is? It's like he's, you know, black or Native or something. Five strikes against him from Day One. He never asked to get born.

But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest. Maybe

She didn't make the world the way it was, and she had been my mother, and I had loved her and she had loved me.

What are we do to? The child sex trade is not for us: our children are unattractive and rude, and - due to the knowledge of our history - have a bad habit of mugging prospective customers and shoving them over cliffs.

She did not believe he was a monster. He was not a monster, to her. Probably he had some endearing trait: he whistled, offkey, in the shower, he had a yen for truffles, he called his dog Liebchen and made it sit up for little pieces of raw steak. How easy it is to invent a humanity, for anyone at all. What an available temptation.

But despite everything, we didn't do badly by one another, we did as well as most. I wish she were here, so I could tell her I finally know this.

A sad pretty girl inspires the urge to console, unlike a sad old crone.

I still have it in me to feel sorry for him. Moira is right, I am a wimp.

But remember that forgiveness too is a power.

You should always try to imagine what they must be feeling. Of course they will resent you. It is only natural. Try to feel for them. Aunt Lydia thought she was very good at feeling for other people. Try to pity them. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Maybe none of this is about control. Maybe it isn't really about who can own whom, who can do what to whom and get away with it, even as far as death. [...] Maybe it's about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it. Never tell me it amounts to the same thing.

He was not a monster, to her ... How easy to invent a humanity, for anyone at all.