Quotes About Empathy

Someone else's body is a place for your mind to go.

Hands on your breast can keep your heart beating.

IT'S NICE WHEN YOU DECIDE TO LIKE SOMEONE AND, WITHOUT DECLARING YOURSELF, DO WHAT'S POSSIBLE TO FURTHER HIS HAPPINESS. THIS CAN TAKE THE FORM OF GIFTS, LOVELY FOOD, PUBLICITY, OR ADVANCED WARNING.

IT CAN BE HELPFUL TO THINK OF THEM EATING YOUR FAVORITE FOODS AND OCCASIONALLY THROWING UP AND GETTING BITS STUCK IN THEIR NOSES.

FEW CAN IGNORE A BABY'S CRIES, EVEN IF THE RESPONSE IS IRRITATION. THIS IS ONE OF THE BUILT IN SAFEGUARDS THAT IS SUPPOSED TO GUARANTEE THE SURVIVAL OF THE RACE.

I used to only care about what everyone thought of me, but not anymore. Now I only care about what the people I love think of me, and everyone else can rot in hell!

Because just like you need to be where I am, I need to be where you are.

I had so much respect for the fact that Father Andrew saw his own sins in my actions. I wished all adults were like Father Andrew.

A few days later, I yelled at him for losing his new lunch box, and he turned to me and said, Are you sure you're my mother? Sometimes you don't seem like a good enough person. He was just a kid, so I let it go. And now, years later, I probably only think of it, I don't know, once or twice a day.

Henry and I make plans to meet for coffee at the place on his block. It is hard for him to get even that far away. "I'm on house arrest," he whispers. "I'm jumping out of my skin." I wish I could give him something for his nerves, but of course, I can't. I remind myself (as I often do) never to become so addicted to drugs or alcohol that I'm not allowed to use them.

Are animals lonely? Other animals, I mean.

I read an article written by a woman living alone who got them. She talks about how depressing it is to have no one to help her with all the spraying and washing and cooking and bagging. She's spent all her money, hasn't had a date in years. I show it to my husband. "It's true. We're lucky," he says.

Both have trouble working up the nerve to go into the Little Theater of Hurt Feelings.

Buddhist practice includes the notion that we have all been born many times before and that we have all been born many times before and that we have all been each other's mothers and fathers and children and siblings. Therefore, we should treat each person we encounter as if they are our beloved.

I remember that day, how you took a $50 cab from work, how you held me in the doorway until I stopped shaking. We had told people. We had to untell them. You did it so I wouldn't have to speak. Later, you made me a dinner of all the things I hadn't been allowed to eat. Cured meat, unpasteurized cheese. Two bottles of wine, then finally, sleep.

The best thing with crazy people, Grandma Win used to say – the only thing, really – is to be somewhere else.

In America, the participating partner is likely to spend an average of 1,000 hours processing the incident with the hurt partner. This cannot be rushed.

But she does get irritated when her college sends around the memo at the end of the semester about how to recognize a suicidal student. She wants to send it back marked up in black letters. How about you look in their eyes?

Caring is all we have, I think. Cynicism is just a soft form of denial.

Buddhist practice includes the notion that we have all been born many times before and that we have all been each other's mothers and fathers and children and siblings. Therefore, we should treat each person we encounter as if they are our beloved.

I wish I could give him something for his nerves, but of course, I can't. I remind myself (as I often do) never to become so addicted to drugs or alcohol that I'm not allowed to use them.

There are bills and supermarket flyers. Also a magazine addressed to a former tenant. The cover promises tips for helping depressive people. What to say: I'm sorry that you're in so much pain. I am not going to leave you. I am going to take care of myself, so you don't need to worry that your pain might hurt me.

If you have not known suffering, love me.

I can't bear it," she says. Margot nods. You can barely bear it, I think reflexively.