Quotes About Empathy

Jacob had seen too many horses whipped half to death to find anything romantic about horse-drawn carriages

The wrong boy. But what did the heart care about that?

Sollte er Staubfinger vielleicht doch noch etwas schlechter machen? Nein, er hatte ihn schon umgebracht, heute würde er ihm einen Gefallen tun. Heute würde er seine Frau dazu bringen, ihm ein für alle Mal zu verzeihen, dass er zehn Jahre fort gewesen war. Manchmal kann ich doch wahrlich ein netter Mensch sein!, dachte Fenoglio.

Their prince had weightier matters on his mind just now than the troubles of a farmer whose neighbour had stolen his pig, a cobbler who had bought poor quality leather from a dealer, or a seamstress whose husband beat her every night when he came home drunk.

Younger? Hmm. Well, if you say so." Elinor glanced down at herself. Her mouse-gray sweater was filthy, and there were three runs in her stockings. "Meggie, that was very kind of you to help me back there in the church," she said, pulling her skirt down over her knees. "My knees were like jelly, I was so scared. I don't know what's come over me.

He simply didn't see the world as it really was, that was the explanation - neither the world nor the people he felt so sorry for. Because if you did see them for what they were, what on earth would make you want to fight and even die for them?

Sometimes, when you're so sad you don't know what to do, it helps to be angry.

Es gab Geschichten, dass der Natternkopf seinem Herold auch ein Herz aus Silber hatte anfertigen lassen, aber Fenoglio war sicher, dass in der Brust des Pfeifers ein menschliches Herz schlug. Nichts war grausamer, als ein Herz aus Fleisch und Blut, weil es wusste, was Schmerzen bereitete.

After all,' she said, 'many people have little enough patience or understanding for their fellow human beings who are only superficially different to them — so how would it be for little people with blue skins who can fly?

It was difficult to find the right words, words which could also explain to her what she herself was feeling.

Ingen visste bättre vad som försiggick än de, som ingenstans hörde hemma

Don't let it worry you, not being able to speak,' Dustfinger had often told her. 'People tend not to listen anyway, right?

Non far dimenticare all'altro chi era. Dell'amore faceva parte anche questo.

A bondade pode ser tão claramente identificada quanto a crueldade. Irradia luz e calor.

Ofelia could still hear Mercedes crying while the blood of the dying girl in her arms was dripping down into the well. She recognized the lullaby Mercedes hummed. And then... Ofelia smiled - oh, so faintly - and then could hear no more. And Mercedes bent over the dead girl and sobbed until the dark hard was wet with her tears.

Ofelia could still hear Mercedes crying while the blood of the dying girl in her arms was dripping down into the well. She recognized the lullaby Mercedes hummed. And then... Ofelia smiled - oh, so faintly - and then could hear no more. And Mercedes bent over the dead girl and sobbed until the dark hair was wet with her tears.

My darling," she said at last, "are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of your life?" "I don't mind at all," I said. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like so long as somebody loves you." Roald Dahl, The Witches

Non c'è niente che sappia consolare meglio di qualche pagina ben scritta quando sei lontano da casa, vero?

Un lettore non vede veramente i personaggi di una storia. Li sente.

You know, there comes a point where you're not giving advice anymore. There comes a point where you're just moralizing, demonstrating your hypothetical superiority when it comes to doing the right thing. That's not very fucking helpful, you know. I'm holding my shit together right now, and rather than telling me that it's not enough, you could try to help me with the stuff I'm capable of.

Making other people feel like assholes was a terrible way to get them to stop acting like assholes.

I don't even know who I was crying for. Me? Sruthi? Both? "Can I give you a hug?" Tanisha was a trailblazer in the whole consent movement.

I don't think that the average person is sixty percent good and forty percent prick. I think that the average person sometimes kids himself that he's the center of the universe, and it's okay if he does something that he'd be pissed about if someone else did it to him, and tries not to think about it too hard.

That's the walkaway dilemma. If you take without giving, you're a mooch. If you keep track of everyone else's taking and giving, you're a creep scorekeeper. It's our version of Christian guilt—it's impious to feel good about your piety. You have to want to be good, but not feel good about how good you are. The worst thing is to be worrying about what someone else is doing, because that has nothing to do with whether you're doing right.