Quotes About Empathy

The least I can do is speak out for the hundreds of chimpanzees who, right now, sit hunched, miserable and without hope, staring out with dead eyes from their metal prisons. They cannot speak for themselves.

But let us not forget that human love and compassion are equally deeply rooted in our primate heritage, and in this sphere too our sensibilities are of a higher order of magnitude than those of chimpanzees.

We still have a long way to go. But we are moving in the right direction. If only we can overcome cruelty, to human and animal, with love and compassion we shall stand at the threshold of a new era in human moral and spiritual evolution—and realize, at last, our most unique quality: humanity.

How can you stop yourself from yelling and shouting and accusing everyone of cruelty? The easy answer is that the aggressive approach simply doesn't work.

At that moment there was no need of any scientific knowledge to understand his communication of reassurance. The soft pressure of his fingers spoke to me not through my intellect but through a more primitive emotional channel: the barrier of untold centuries which has grown up during the separate evolution of man and chimpanzee was, for those few seconds, broken down. It was a reward far beyond my greatest hopes.

That is our hope. Because if we all start listening and helping, then surely, together, we can make the world a better place for all living things. Can't we?

One of my best days was when I ... offered [chimp David Greybeard] fruit on my outstretched hand, and he turned his head away. I put my hand closer - and he took the fruit, dropped it, and gently squeezed my hand, which is a chimp reassurance gesture ... We communicated perfectly in a language that predates words.

from the moment when, staring into the eyes of a chimpanzee, I saw a thinking, reasoning personality looking back.

Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.

The first time I saw adult chimpanzees in these five-by-five foot cages... tears began to trickle down under my mask, and [JoJo, a chimp,] just reached out this gentle finger and wiped them away... And then the veterinarian came. He knelt down beside me and put his arm around me. He said, I have to face this every day.

The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves

Thousands of people who say they 'love' animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terrors of the abattoirs

Cruelty is a terrible thing. I believe it is the worst human sin.

Just tell people stories, try and find out who they are, try and find something that links you with them.

Sometimes I [longed to be a chimp]... I just wanted to know... what it felt like in the evening to be making a nest and what it felt like to be a female when a big male comes thundering in.

We've got to support them, encourage them, empower them, listen to them, and

Our guide was in the background saying, 'This whale has forgiven us. She has forgiven us for who we were and is seeing who we are today.

Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.

Archbishop Tutu once explained to me that suffering can either embitter us or ennoble us, and it tends to ennoble us if we are able to make meaning out of our suffering and use it for the benefit of others.

there seems to be a disconnect between our clever brain and our compassionate heart.

I truly believe that a lot of what I perceive as deliberate cruelty is based on ignorance.

You cannot share your life with a dog or a cat and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.

Only if we can understand, can we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.

using our powerful intellect to recognize the consequences of our actions and to think of the well-being of the whole.