Quotes About Empathy

heavy emotion as a way to develop true compassion for ourselves and everyone else.

the essence of compassionate speech or compassionate action is to be there for people, without pulling back in horror or fear or anger.

Booker T. Washington was right when he said, "Let no man pull you so low as to make you hate him.

If we were to come up with one word about each of the troublemakers in our lives, we would find ourselves with a list of descriptions of our own rejected qualities.

The point is that we can dissolve the sense of dualism between us and them, between this and that, between here and there, by moving toward what we find difficult and wish to push away.

Can we feel the emotion and breathe it into our hearts for ourselves and everyone else? If we can remember to experiment like this even occasionally, we are training as a warrior.

If we can practice when we're jealous, resentful, scornful, when we hate ourselves, then we are well trained.

The basic thing is to realize that we have everything going for us. We don't have extreme pain that's inescapable. We don't have total pleasure that lulls us into ignorance. When we start feeling depressed, it's helpful to reflect on that. Maybe this is a good time to read the newspapers a lot and remember how terrifying life can be.

Pema Chödrön

So when I would start to become depressed, I would remember, "Now wait a minute. Maybe I just have to figure out how to rouse myself genuinely, because there are a lot of people suffering like this, and if I can do it, they can do it.

From a gesture of generosity, true letting go will evolve.

Compassion involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.

The experience of a sad and tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness.

It is unconditional compassion for ourselves that leads naturally to unconditional compassion for others.

Self-improvement can have temporary results, but lasting transformation occurs only when we honor ourselves as the source of wisdom and compassion.

Two kinds of selfish people: the unwise and the wise. Unwise selfish people think only of themselves, and the result is confusion and pain. Wise selfish people know that the best thing they can do for themselves is to be there for others. As a result, they experience joy.

Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.

An analogy for bodhichitta is the rawness of a broken heart. Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment, and blame.

But honesty without kindness makes us feel grim and mean

when we harm another, we are harming ourselves.

the best way to serve ourselves is to love and care for others. These are powerful tools for dissolving the barriers that perpetuate the suffering of all beings.

If we find ourselves unworkable and give up on ourselves, then we'll find others unworkable and give up on them.

To make things as easy as possible to under stand, we can summarize the four boundless qualities in the single phrase "a kind heart." Just train yourself to have a kind heart always and in all situations. —PATRUL RINPOCHE

I didn't enjoy working with Bill [Murray]. We fought a lot... but I've let go of some of the anger and we seem to get along fine now.