Quotes About Empathy

Give me the gift of a listening heart.

I'm self-sufficient. I spend a lot of time on my own and I shut off quite easily. When I communicate, I communicate 900 per cent, then I shut off, which scares people sometimes.

Successful communication depends on how well we listen, rather than how well we push our opinions on the person seated before us.

Communication is not about speaking what we think. Communication is about ensuring others hear what we mean.

Whether I praise or criticize someone's action, I imply that I am their judge, that I'm engaged in rating them or what they have done.

Never hear what somebody thinks about you, you'll live longer. Hear that they're in pain. Don't hear their analysis.

While we may not consider the way we talk to be 'violent,' our words often lead to hurt and pain, whether for others or for ourselves.

If other people are going to talk, conversation becomes impossible.

Real loneliness consists not in being alone, but in being with the wrong person, in the suffocating darkness of a room in which no deep communication is possible.

Punishment is the root of violence on our planet.

One who cares is one who listens.

We are compassionate with ourselves when we are able to embrace all parts of ourselves and recognize the needs and values expressed by each part.

No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see why.

Since in order to speak, one must first listen, learn to speak by listening.

At the core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled.

Keep in mind that other people's actions can never 'make' you feel any certain way. Feelings are your warning indicators.

Always listen to what people need rather than what they are thinking about us.

Violence comes from the belief that other people cause our pain and therefore deserve punishment.

Communication is mutual feeling with someone, not a didactic process of information.

We are responsible for what we hear other people say and for how we act.

Labeling and diagnosis is a catastrophic way to communicate. Telling other people what's wrong with them greatly reduces, almost to zero, the probability that we're going to get what we're after.

Use anger as a wake-up call to unmet needs.

Most of us live in a Jackal world where we take turns using the other person as a waste basket for our words.

If we wish to express anger fully, the first step is to divorce the other person from any responsibility for our anger.