Quotes About Empathy

His fingertips lightly and unintentionally grazed her face and her ears, and Debbie's don't-get-in-trouble self felt itself making room for her alert-alert-something-new-is-happening self.

other brave get …" He gave Boone's head a sharp, possessive pat and straightened up. "Dance finish. You take dead braves, plasstic. Put in ground." "Little Bear, I can't now. I must go with Emma. Did—did you see her? She—she saw you. I have to make sure she—helps, and doesn't tell.

Manners are about imagination, ultimately. They are about imagining being the other person.

to create "a world that works for everyone, with no one and nothing left out.

Have you tried to talk to her?" "What would you like me to say Bastian? OH, I'M SORRY, INEZ. I DIDN'T MEAN TO BITE YOU, MY FANGS SLIPPED.

These seasons of suffering are not for nothing. They will grow you. They will shape you. They will soften you. They will allow you to experience God's comfort and compassion. But you will find life-giving purpose and meaning when you allow God to take your painful experiences and comfort others. You will be able to share a unique hope because you know exactly what it feels like to be them.

My ability to heal cannot be conditional on them wanting my forgiveness but only on my willingness to give it.

The Bible reminds us that we shouldn't "let any unwholesome talk come out of [our] mouths (or fly from our typing fingertips), but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." That's from Ephesians 4:29

But it is a rare and beautiful thing when we choose to offer love in situations when most people would choose to scorn or ignore.

No, it's not wrong to need people. But some of our biggest disappointments in life are the result of expectations we have of others that they can't ever possibly meet. That's when the desire to connect becomes an unrealistic need. Unrealistic neediness is actually greediness in disguise.

Staying here, blaming them, and forever defining your life by what they did will only increase the pain. Worse, it will keep projecting out onto others. The more our pain consumes us, the more it will control us. And sadly, it's those who least deserve to be hurt whom our unresolved pain will hurt the most.

Jesus knew what being rejected felt like. Jesus knew. He knew the feelings. He knew the struggles. And in an earth-shattering moment, Jesus exposed the way of escape for us. He matched every feeling—the emptiness, the deprivation, and the rejection—with truths straight from God's Word. Lies flee in the presence of truth.

People aren't thinking about us nearly as much as we might think they are.

Relationships often die not because of conversations that were had but rather conversations that were needed but never had.

People don't mind doing CPR on a crisis victim, but no person is equipped to be the constant lifeline to another.

I've discovered that the more love and joy I pour into others, the more I experience in my own life.

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive."1

But weeping with them and rejoicing with them does not mean trying to take control of their out-of-control choices and behaviors. We can forgive them. But we cannot control them. And we should not enable them.

Why did this happen? Because there's someone else in the world who would drown in their own tears if not for seeing yours.

I only needed to bring my willingness to forgive, not the fullness of all my restored feelings.

Self-rejection paves the landing strip for the rejection of others to arrive and pull on up to the gates of our hearts. Think about why it hurts so much when other people say or do things that make you feel rejected. Isn't it in part due to the fact they just voiced some vulnerability you've already berated yourself for? It hurts exponentially more when you're kicked in an already bruised shin.

My counselor says, "Adults inform, children explain." I will state my boundaries with compassion and clarity. But I will not negotiate excuses or navigate exceptions with lengthy explanations that wear me down emotionally.

Our disappointments in ourselves—in our lives—aren't just isolated pieces of evidence that we fall short and life is hard. No, they are the exact places where we can break secrecy with fellow humans and show up to say, "Me too. I get it. I understand. You aren't alone. Together, we can find our way home.

Make no mistake, those who are the most eager to harshly criticize others are often the ones most desperate to keep hidden their own secret sins or unresolved pain.