Quotes About Empathy

When Dad & I used to tell each other to try a little tenderness we meant calm down, be soft, stop having to be right, give a person the benefit of the doubt for a change.

And when you can't stand yourself, you don't want people around who are constantly saying how much they love you, because you know you don't deserve it.

Kip is still one of my best friends. When you have a shared experience with someone who showed you some kindness when you needed it most, it sticks with you.

I hate it when people think they know me when they really don't.

We can't expect everybody to be there for us, all at once. So it's a lucky thing that really, all you need is someone.

I wondered which was harder, in the end. The act of telling, or who you told it to. Or maybe if, when you finally got it out, the story was really all that mattered.

This is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener. They don't jump in on your sentences, saving you from actually finishing them, or talk over you, allowing what you do manage to get out to be lost or altered in transit. Instead, they wait, so you have to keep going.

Sometimes, we just have to be happy with what people can offer us. Even if it's not what we want, at least it's something.

Friends are honest with each other. Even if the truth hurts. -Maggie

Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.

My point is, there are a lot of people in the world. No one ever sees everything the same way you do; it just doesn't happen. So when you find one person who gets a couple of things, especially if they're important ones... you might as well hold on to them. You know?

All you could do was take on as much weight as you can bear. And if you're lucky, there's someone close enough by to shoulder the rest.

You can't just turn your heart off like a faucet; you have to go to the source and dry it out, drop by drop.

Accepting all the good and bad about someone. It's a great thing to aspire to. The hard part is actually doing it.

You only really fall apart in front of the people you know can piece you back together.

Looking back, it seemed like it should have been harder to lose someone, or have them lose you, especially when they were in the same state, only a few towns over.

If you could just be nice, then you wouldn't have to worry about arguments at all. but being nice wasn't as easy as it seemed, especially when the rest of the world could be so mean.

Grieving doesn't make you imperfect. It makes you human.

There's a kind of radar that you get, after years of being talked about and made fun of by other people. You can almost smell it when it's about to happen, can recognize instantly the sound of a hushed voice, lowered just enough to make whatever is said okay. I had only been in Colby for a few weeks. But I had not forgotten.

Just because something's damaged doesn't mean it shouldn't be treated with respect.' 'Ad,' Wallace said, 'it's a coffee table, not an orphan.

I had this wild thought that he was the only one in all this chaos who was just like me, and that was comforting and profound all at once.

There's a real bonding in someone beating the crap out of you. - Rolly

See, Colie, it's all about understanding. We're all worth something.

It was a weird kind of loneliness, feeling that some of my closest friends didn't actually know I existed.