Quotes About Compassion

No greatness without goodness.

Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defence, not God's, that the self-righteous should rush.

These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few paise, walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, "Business as usual." But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening.

The spiritual reformer cannot expect to have the majority on his side. He must be prepared to stand alone like Ezekiel and Jeremy. He must take as his example St. Augustine besieged by the Vandals at Hippo, or St. Gregory preaching at Rome with the Lombards at the gates. For the true helpers of the world are the poor in spirit, the men who bear the sign of the cross on their foreheads, who refuse to be overcome by the triumph of injustice and put their sole trust in the salvation of God.

Solidarity is an attitude of resistance, I suppose, or it should be.

At the heart of Deuteronomy stands chapter 15, with its laws on the release of debts and slaves.

The only way to make lasting change is to enlighten humans that they should treat all creatures with respect. They shouldn't eat them, steal their skin and fur, force them to do tricks for entertainment, and so on.

And he who is forever talking about enemies / Is himself the enemy!

Patience and kindness don't show up on demand; they're disciplines that require constant practice, and there is no better boot camp for learning those skills than hitching your survival to your ability to discern—and respect—the needs of another creature

Let us live so that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry," Mark Twain

True heroism, as the ancients understood, isn't about strength, or boldness, or even courage. It's about compassion.

Other runners try to disassociate from fatigue by blasting iPods or imagining the roar of the crowd in Olympic Stadium, but Scott had a simpler method: it's easy to get outside yourself when you're thinking about someone else.

Heroes aren't perfect; with a god as one parent and a mortal as the other, they're perpetually teetering between two destinies. What tips them toward greatness is a sidekick, a human connection who helps turn the spigot on the power of compassion. Empathy, the Greeks believed, was a source of strength, not softness; the more you recognized yourself in others and connected with their distress, the more endurance, wisdom, cunning, and determination you could tap into.

it's easy to get outside yourself when you're thinking about someone else.*

And what Plutarch taught them is this: Heroes care. True heroism, as the ancients understood, isn't about strength, or boldness, or even courage. It's about compassion.

Los griegos creían que cualquier persona podía desbloquear un potencial sobrehumano activando los tres pilares del heroísmo: la habilidad, la fuerza y la compasión. Y tenían razón. Se puede.

Korima sounds like karma and functions the same way, except in the here and now. It's your obligation to share whatever you can spare, instantly and with no expectations: once the gift leaves your hand, it was never yours to begin with.

Even Cliff Young, the sixty-three-year-old farmer who stunned Australia in 1983 by beating the best ultrarunners in the country in a 507-mile race from Sydney to Melbourne, did it all on beans, beer, and oatmeal ("I used to feed the calves by hand and they thought I was their mother," Young said. "I couldn't sleep too good those nights when I knew they would get slaughtered." He switched to grains and potatoes, and slept a whole lot better. Ran pretty good, too).

I put my arms around you," she would tell Michael Stankewicz from the witness stand on the day he was sentenced. "To comfort you.

Zatopek found a way to run so that when he won, even other teams were delighted.

Heroes care. True heroism, as the ancients understood, isn't about strength, or boldness, or even courage. It's about compassion.

Scott was a hero for a very different reason among back-of-the-packers too slow to see him in action. After winning a hundred-mile race, Scott would be desperate for a hot shower and cool sheets. But instead of leaving, he'd wrap himself in a sleeping bag and stand vigil by the finish line. When day broke the next morning, Scott would still be there, cheering hoarsely, letting that last, persistent runner know he wasn't alone.

You couldn't pay me enough to be a law enforcement officer. Their job is a tough job. You have to solve people's problems, you have to baby-sit people, you have to always be doing this cat-and-mouse game with the bad guys. My respect for them is immense.

Meiner Meinung nach ist jeder ein Verräter an der Menschheit, der nicht seine ganze Kraft dem Versuch widmet, weitere Kriege zu verhindern.