Quotes About Empathy

We must have this rule, for there are those whose hearts are so hard that they will come and buy this rice that is given for the poor--for a penny will not feed any man like this--and they will carry the rice home to feed to their pigs for slop. And the rice is for men and not for pigs (Buck, 105).

It was in those days that I learned to distinguish between the two kinds of people in the world: those who have known inescapable sorrow and those who have not.

What shall I do? she asked in a small voice. Forget your own self, he said. But all these years, she urged, I have so carefully fulfilled my duty. Always with the thought of your own freedom in your mind, he said. She could not deny it. She sat motionless, her hands folded on the pearl-gray satin of her robe. Direct me, she said at last. Instead of your own freedom, think how you can free others, he said gently. She lifted her head. From yourself, he said still gently.

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.

I am always moved, with grateful wonder, by the goodness of people. For the few who are prying or meanly critical, for the very few who rejoice in the grief of others, there are the thousands who are kind. I have come to believe that the natural human heart is good, and I have observed that this goodness is found in all varieties of people, and that it can and does prevail in spite of other corruptions. This human goodness alone provides hope enough for the world.

The gift he had been given was sometimes heavy to bear, the ability always to understand why the other person was as he was. Wounded, yes, but never angry, and there were times when he longed to feel fierce personal anger.

The tears of the old come as easily as the tears of children

Can one spit on a smiling face?" he inquired; or he said, "Vengeance cannot last a night's sleep.

Be proud of your child, accept him as he is and do not heed the words and stares of those who know no better. This child has a meaning for you and for all children. You will find a joy you cannot now suspect in fulfilling his life for and with him.

You see how loving kindness conquers fear, even in animals. Let this lesson be engraved upon your hearts.

Ah, because you have suffered is the one reason why you should never make others suffer," he had said. "Only the small and the mean retaliate for pain.

The truth is I cannot hate wholly enough to kill a man. I always know how he feels, too.

But the boy only muttered bitterly, You do not understand—you are too old—you understand nothing.

Cómo podían conocer los médicos extranjeros las enfermedades de una mujer china? Quizá entiendan las enfermedades de los bárbaros, pero no las de los refinados y cultos chinos...

This seems right to them today and that tomorrow and they do not know that one man's mind cannot say what is the true right for another. No, in their pride of a little learning they rush out to do evil

It just broke her heart to hear the sobs of those women who dug around in the rubble, dripping wet from the police water cannons, asking for news of their loved ones everywhere, knocking again and again on metal doors that never opened, trampled by blasts of water in front of the Ministry of Justice, chaining themselves to lampposts with torn stockings, disheveled, clutching their chests so the filthy water wouldn't tear away the photograph they wore over their hearts.

Any good lover is a good listener. And a bad listener is at best a bad lover and at worst a rapist.

The stay-at-home mom is just as vulnerable as the working mom

At the same time, she [Charis Denison] offered this to an eleventh-grader whose friend was having sex with many different people. Your response doesn't have to be 'That's gross' of 'That's bad.' You can ask, 'How did that feel to you? What does it bring you? How does it serve you?' Approached in the right way, that can be a great conversation. Then, if you really care about that person, your job is to be their human shield from shame.

Resolved," wrote a girl in 1892, "to think before speaking. To work seriously. To be self-restrained in conversations and actions. Not to let my thoughts wander. To be dignified. Interest myself more in others." And one hundred years later: "I will try to make myself better in any way I possibly can. . . . I will lose weight, get new lenses, already got new haircut, good makeup, new clothes and accessories.

Before World War I, self-improvement meant being less self-involved, less vain: helping others, focusing on schoolwork, becoming better read, and cultivating empathy. Author

What gets to you is the everyday ignorance

They [boys] are particularly eager to have their fathers talk to them about their own experience with sex, love, even regret.

As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.