Quotes About Empathy

You show how much you love someone by being there for them when they need you, by knowing what they need and anticipating those needs.

He] accepted me for what I was and it wasn't fair of him not to give me the same chance to accept him in the same way.

listen for the intention of what people say and ignore the words.

human beings we have the obligation to transcend law through mercy. If we all had to live by the law, we would all be condemned—all of us. It is only by showing compassion and mercy that we create a better world.

Trust in someone means that we no longer have to protect ourselves. We believe we will not be hurt or harmed by the other, at least not deliberately. We trust his or her good intentions, though we know we might be hurt by the way circumstances play out between us. We might say that hurt happens; it's a given of life. Harm is inflicted; it's a choice some people make.

Our tears are precious, necessary, and part of what make us such endearing creatures.

The more invested I am in my own ideas about reality, the more those experiences will feel like victimizations rather than the ups and downs of relating. Actually, I believe that the less I conceptualize things that way, the more likely it is that people will want to stay by me, because they will not feel burdened, consciously or unconsciously, by my projections, judgments, entitlements, or unrealistic expectations.

Most people think of love as a feeling but love is not so much a feeling as a way of being present.

The heart itself cannot break, for its very nature is soft and open. What breaks open when we see things as they are is the protective shell of ego identity we have built around ourselves in order to avoid feeling pain. When the heart breaks out of this shell, we feel quite raw and vulnerable. Yet that is also the beginning of feeling real compassion for ourselves and others. —John Welwood Ordinary Magic

May those whose hell it is To hate and hurt Be turned into lovers Bringing flowers.

We feel loved when we receive attention, acceptance, appreciation, and affection, and when we are allowed the freedom to live in accord with our own deepest needs and wishes. These

We hear with our ears; we listen with our intution and our heart.

If you use sarcasm, ridicule, teasing, pinching, tickling, or barbed kidding at times, make a commitment to cease using these passive-aggressive weapons against your partner or anyone.

We cannot attune if we assume certain feelings are right and others wrong. To attune to someone, we need neutrality toward all feelings, moods, and inner states and the fearless openness of mindfulness.

A lack of love means not receiving the five A's of adult love: attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection, and allowing us to be ourselves.

The ability to hear someone is really about trust, not simply about communication. A trust issue always lurks beneath a communication difficulty.

Where there is no love put love and you will find love.

When you are given attention, your intuitions are treated as if they matter. You are taken seriously. You are given credit when it is due. Your feelings have such high value to those who love you that they are on the lookout for them. They even look for the feelings you are afraid to know and gently inquire whether you want to show them.

To love is to become loving.

Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke of this encouraging possibility in his address at Harvard Divinity School in 1838: "We mark with light in the memory the few interviews we have had with souls that made our souls wiser, that spoke what we thought, that told us what we knew, that gave us leave to be what we inly are.

To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart." — ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn In the peace of their self-content; There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart In a fellowless firmament; There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths Where highways never ran; But let me live by the side of the road, And be a friend to man. —Samuel Walter Foss

I like dogs considerably more than I like humans. That doesn't make me antihuman; there are plenty of humans I'm very fond of. But generally speaking, if I simultaneously meet a new human and a new dog, I'm going to like the dog more. I'm certainly going to trust the dog more.

He rolls his eyes when I mention the dog connection. "What is it with you and dogs?" "Dogs are like humans, only better in every respect," I say.