Quotes About Compassion

He now knew that happiness and kindness went together.

If love was compass enough," said Armand quietly, "there would be no missing children.

They are four sentences we learn to say, and mean.' Gamache held up his hand as a fist and raised a finger with each point. 'I don't know. I need help. I'm sorry. And one other.' Gamache thought for a moment but couldn't bring it to mind.

But Armand always said people react differently to death, and it was folly to judge anyone and double folly to judge what people do when faced with sudden, violent death. Murder. They weren't themselves.

A populace he saw not as either victim or threat, but as brothers and sisters. Equals, to be respected and protected. And sometimes arrested.

So ingrained, Gamache knew, was our training to be polite that even in the midst of a terrible personal loss people still smiled.

Clara saw what others couldn't. Like that little boy in The Sixth Sense, but instead of seeing ghosts, Clara saw good. Which was itself pretty scary. So much more comforting to see bad in others; gives us all sorts of excuses for our own bad behavior. But good? No, only really remarkable people see the good in others.

But then, dynamism and kindness often didn't go together, though when they did they were unstoppable.

who would want to kill kindness.

What a wonderful epitaph, thought Gamache. He cared for himself.

Clara rose with exaggerated calm. She took Jane in her arms and felt the old body creak back into place. Then she said a little prayer of thanks to the gods that give grace. The grace to cry and the grace to watch.

explorer, Armand Gamache delved into what people thought, but mostly how they felt. Because that was where actions were conceived. Noble acts. And acts of the greatest cruelty.

everyone had strengths. And weaknesses. The important thing was to recognize them. And not expect something from someone who didn't have it to give.

Screw off. Leave me alone!' Now she rounded on him. 'Where're your tears? Eh? You're more dead than she is. You can't even cry. And now what? You want me to stop? It hasn't even been a day yet, and you're what? Bored with it? Not the center of the universe anymore? You want everything to go back to the way it was, like that.' Clara snapped her fingers in his face. 'You disgust me.

It was as though I wasn't human.' 'That's the necessary first step,' said Myrna. 'They dehumanise their victim. You've put it well.

powerful. Three Pines is a state of mind. When we choose tolerance over hate. Kindness over cruelty. Goodness over bullying. When we choose to be hopeful, not cynical. Then we live in Three Pines.

They could stop being pillars and just be people.

Who is it, exactly, you have needed all these years to forgive,

That was often the equation, give up the few to save the many. From a distance it seemed so simple, so clear. And yet, from a distance you might see the big picture, but not the whole picture, you missed the details. Not everything was seen, from a distance.

the world is a cruel place, but it's also filled with more goodness than we ever realized. And you know what? Kindness beats cruelty. In the long run. It really does. Believe me.

Well, take this then. Ruth had written. Have some more body. Drink and eat. You'll just make yourself sick. Sicker. You won't be cured.

Her voice changed slightly as she remembered, "But most he loved a happy human face.

She held Ruth's hand for the rest of the way, and wondered if maybe the key was not in being held, but in holding.

I have seen flowers come in stony places, And kind things done by men with ugly faces,' Gamache said,