Quotes About Empathy

Understanding the other persons' needs does not mean you have to give up on your own needs.

Expressing our vulnerability can help resolve conflicts.

Every message, regardless of form or content, is an expression of a need.

I never have to worry about another person's response, only how I react to what they say.

When I am angry I have a judgment and an unmet need.

There is a universal urge for intimacy, for trading subjectivities, in communication. For Telepathy. Our desire for it tells us about what we wish to be: truly intersubjective beings.

I don't think you can have an authentic connection when one person is diagnosing the other.

What others do may be the stimulus of our feelings, but never the cause.

Get very clear about the kind of world we would like and then start living that way.

Judgments of others contribute to self-fulfilling prophecies.

When we listen for their feelings and needs, we no longer see people as monsters.

People heal from their pain when they have an authentic connection with another human being.

It is a rare and valuable tonic to share insights, dreams and concerns with people whom you have never met. The sole purpose for such exchanges is simply to give light to one another.

Never question the beauty of what you are saying because someone reacts with pain, judgment, criticism. It just means they have not heard you.

With every choice you make, be conscious of what need it serves.

When people hear needs, it provokes compassion. When people hear diagnoses, it provokes defensiveness and attack.

Classifying and judging people promotes violence.

Always hear the 'Yes' in the 'No'.

Empathy before education.

Avoid 'shoulding' on others and yourself!

We use NVC to evaluate ourselves in ways that engender growth rather than self-hatred.

Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.

You can understand why a system would seek information - but why in hell does it offer information? Why do we strive to be understood? Why is a refusal to accept communication so painful?

Four D's of Disconnection: 1. Diagnosis (judgment, analysis, criticism, comparison); 2. Denial of Responsibility; 3. Demand; 4. 'Deserve' oriented language.