Quotes About Compassion

We all have handicaps. The difference is that some of us must reveal ours, while others must conceal theirs, to be treated with mercy.

I believe that love and laughter can only happen when one person takes the time to think about what would cause the other person to feel good.

Only the wounded healer can truly heal.

I feel strongly, because a man who will himself die one day in the not to distant future and, also, as a psychiatrist who spent decades dealing with death anxiety, that confronting death allows us, not to open some noisome, Pandora's box, but to re-enter life in a richer, more compassionate manner.

One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as "those evil people" or "those poor people who need our help." Nor must we search for signs of "loveworthiness." Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are.

As I read the birth stories about Jesus I cannot help but conclude that though the world may be tilted toward the rich and powerful, God is tilted toward the underdog.

When you've suffered a great deal in life, each additional pain is both unbearable and trifling.

Even though I was growing up in a land that had been tormented since the dawn of time, I refused to consider the world as a battlefield.

Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'un attentat secoue Tel-Aviv, et les secours sont menés au fur et à mesure avec une efficacité grandissante. Mais un attentat reste un attentat. A l'usure, on peut le gérer techniquement, pas humainement. L'émoi et l'effroi ne font pas bon ménage avec le sang froid. Lorsque l'horreur frappe, c'est toujours le coeur qu'elle vise le premier.

Si tu pars du principe que ton pire ennemi est celui-là, même qui tente semer la haine dans ton coeur, tu auras connu la moitié du bonheur.

Whoever told you a man mustn't cry doesn't know what it means to be a man.... There's no shame in crying, my boy. Tears are the noblest things we have.

I'll never understand why the survivors of a tragedy feel compelled to make people believe they're more to be pitied than the ones who didn't make it.

And remember this: There's nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, more important than your life. And your life isn't more important than other people's lives.

He hasn't reneged on Catholicism entirely. Pope Francis he thinks impressive: "A remarkable guy. A breath of fresh air." Catholic social teaching is still in his head, along with the "golden rule" every boy was taught at Xavier: "It was at the heart of the Jesuit call to be a 'man for others.' And I have spent my working life, both representing workers and as parliamentarian, trying to measure up to this standard of compassion and empathy.

We should be more concerned with reaching the lost than pampering the saved.

The Bible says we need to love our enemies, bless our enemies. It does not say we should assume our enemies' priorities.

You know, Professor, this stray kitten and you have one very important thing in common.' 'I can't imagine,' responded the professor coolly. 'Your life is the most important thing in the world to you,' said His Holiness. 'Same for this kitten.

The main shift, you see, is from placing self at the center of our thoughts to putting others there. It is-what do you say?-a paradox that the more we can focus our thoughts on the well-being of others, the happier we become. The first one to benefit is oneself. I call this being wisely selfish.

The purpose of Buddhism is not to convert people. It is to give them tools so they can create greater happiness. So they can be happier Catholics, happier atheists, happier Buddhists.

It is the wonderful paradox," he continued, "that the best way to achieve happiness for oneself is to give happiness to others.

As much as possible, it is useful to think of all other beings as being just like me. Every living being strives for happiness. Every being wants to avoid all forms of suffering. They are not just objects or things to be used for our benefit. You know, Mahatma Gandhi once said: 'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

It's wonderful what becomes possible when we start to accept ourselves," he told me. "Others find it easier to accept us, too, when we don't keep engaging in negative thoughts about ourselves.

The purpose of Buddhism is not to convert people. It is to give them tools so they can create greater happiness. So they can be happier Catholics, happier atheists, happier Buddhists. There are many practices . . .

to cultivate compassion for others, first we begin with ourselves.