Quotes About Empathy

People should matter more than ideas.

I would miss the kindness of good people who were compassionate when so many were pitiless, who made their way through so much corruption without being corrupted themselves, who eschewed envy in a world of envy, who eschewed greed in a world of greed, who valued truth and could not be drowned in a sea of lies, for they shone and, by the light they cast, they had warmed me all my life.

When I woke up and the dark wasn't gone yet, and the dark seemed so big, then she sang soft and made the dark small again. That is the best of all things we can do for one another: Make the dark small.

Why aren't we designed to be unable to harm one another? Why aren't our brains wired so that we can't kill or rape or steal or lie or deceive? Why are we formed with the capacity to hate and envy?

Although there was much I wanted to say, I knew that I should not. His mind and heart were out of alignment, and only he could bring them into harmony.

To those who lack a conscience, there is no such thing as remorse.

Beneath the bleeding hands we feel / The sharp compassion of the healer's art.

I know what it's like to desperately need help, and what I think is it would feel really good to be on the other side, to be able to give help to people who need it, desperately or otherwise.

The only monsters in this world are those who pass for human, who cast shadows and are reflected in mirrors, who smile and speak of compassion and shed convincing tears.

Dogs know we need to give affection as much as they need to receive it. They were the first therapists; they've been in practice for thousands of years.

It's not about the money, it's the kindness, the way it makes the recipient feel special. Life is hard and lonely for many people. If all of us would just make one another feel special now and then—not just with money, but however we can—wouldn't that be lovely?

Friendship does not depend on conversation. Sometimes the most important communication is not mouth to ear, but heart to heart.

Einstein vigorously wagged his tail. Thoughtfully, Nora said, "Escaped . . ." Travis knew what she must be thinking. To Einstein, he said, "They'll be looking for you, won't they?" The dog whined and wagged his tail—which Travis interpreted as a "yes" with a special edge of anxiety.

But even if it did, bad things happen to all of us, and that doesn't mean we can hurt others just because we ourselves have been hurt. Are you with me so far?

Her grief was now doubled by his grief. She wondered how many heartbreaks a child so young could endure.

In all our lives, however, there are many days when we die a little, when we are wounded by loss or failure, or by fear, or by seeing the suffering of others for whom we are able to offer only pity, for whom we are powerless to offer aid, we are beyond mercy.

She wondered what it was about storytelling that made people want it almost as much as food and water, even more so in bad times than good. Movies had never drawn more patrons than during the Great Depression. Book sales often improved in a recession. The need went beyond a mere desire for entertainment and distraction from one's troubles. It was more profound and mysterious than that.

I believed that I now knew what a lobster felt as it languished in a tank beside the maître d' station in a restaurant, while hungry patrons, waiting to be seated, tapped the glass and remarked upon its size and succulence.

The dead are sensitive to the living. They have walked this path ahead of us and know our fears, our failings, our desperate hopes, and how much we cherish what cannot last. They pity us, I think, and no doubt they should.

The life of a seamstress is no smaller than the life of a queen, the life of a child with Down syndrome no less filled with promise than the life of a philosopher, because the only significant measure of your life is the positive effect you have on others, either by conscious acts of will or by unconscious example.

Ah, sir, that's just mean. She's not a Victoria's Secret model. but she's pretty in her way.

Regardless of how rough we may appear on the exterior, each of us had a human heart.

Never waste energy beating yourself up. Other people are always standing in line to do it.

was not merely weak but also evil to throw away your life when so many had their lives or the promise of their future taken from them by cruel people or by the brutal forces of nature.