Quotes About Empathy

Some black women hug me and walk away. A lot of black men talk about dating white women and how they've been there, too. People open up about their racial experiences. I feel like I'm a walking therapy session. It's quite intense. But it means a lot to people.

White women are themselves oppressed and that they would therefore be able to align themselves with other oppressed people.

I want all types of people to look at my work and see themselves, just like I watch a Reese Witherspoon movie as a black woman and can empathize with her because we have had to internalize whiteness in that way to survive.

We know that all interracial groups in South Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So as a prelude, whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior.

Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.

Early on, I was so impressed with Charles Dickens. I grew up in the South, in a little village in Arkansas, and the whites in my town were really mean, and rude. Dickens, I could tell, wouldn't be a man who would curse me out and talk to me rudely.

Doing a concert, I look at a room full of different people, and I see you've got Muslims, you've got Jews, you've got Christians, you've got gays, you've got straights, you've got blacks, you've got whites. I think, 'How can I unite these people through song?'

Even if it's a white crowd, I tell my jokes for the four black people in the room, not the 100 whites.

Whites know never tell blacks what you really think and what you really feel because you risk being seen as a racist. And the result of that is that to a degree, we as blacks live in a bubble. Nobody tells us the truth. Nobody tells us what they would do if they were in our situation. Nobody really helps us.

I'm really busted up over this and I'm very, very sorry to those people in the audience, the blacks, the Hispanics, whites - everyone that was there that took the brunt of that anger and hate and rage and how it came through.

I think the real understanding comes when we recognize our humanity in each other. That's not just between blacks and whites. That's between all religions as well.

Sadly, whites are rarely open to what black and brown folks have to say regarding their ongoing experiences with racist mistreatment. And we are especially reluctant to discuss what that mistreatment means for us as whites: namely that we end up with more and better opportunities as the flipside of discrimination.

I was told that Daddy was murdered by a white man. I could have adopted an attitude of hating whites. But then in 1974 my grandmother was killed by a black man, so I could have hated blacks too.

I used to think I saw life in blacks or whites, turns out I was more grey. It is extremely liberating to care for people even if they are flawed, you needn't eschew the whole person for a few not so shiny, sparkly parts.

He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.

The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.

Anyone who hates children and animals can't be all bad.

Treat everyone with the same respect that you want to be treated with. That's going to take a collective group of people to do it. There's not one individual that's going to change it. It's going to take multiple people getting out, learning who each other are and loving each other no matter what their political views or what their background is.

Some people come into our life as a blessing, while others come into our life as a lesson, so love them for who they are instead of judging them for who they are not.

The best advice comes from people who don't give advice.

People who look down on other people don't end up being looked up to.

Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.

Charity degrades those who receive it and hardens those who dispense it.

If the rain spoils our picnic, but saves a farmer's crop, who are we to say it shouldn't rain?