Quotes About Empathy

I think, actually, that none of us understands anyone else very well, because we're all too shy to show what matters the most. If you ask me, it's a major design flaw. We ought to be able to say, Here, look what I am. I think it would be quite a relief.

You must never check for a person's pulse using your thumb, or you'll feel your own heartbeat. Actually, I plan on doing that if I'm the one who's here when Ruth dies. I plan on giving her my heartbeat before I let her go.

Sometimes I wonder what the world would sound like if everybody stopped their complaining. It sure would be a quiet place.

Oh. maybe little kids are trouble, sometimes, but only for a good reason: They are tired. They are hungry. They are afraid. He supposes a great many ills of adults might be cured by a nap or a good meal or a bit of timely reassurance. But adults complicate everything. They are by nature complicators. They learned to make things harder than they need to be and they learned to talk way too much.

aging means the abandonment of criticism and the taking on of compassionate acceptance.

Did she ever think of that, that things experienced in ways different from hers were equally valuable? That the way that he chose to love her was, in fact, loving her, that the face of love depended on the person giving it?

Books educate and inspire, and they soothe souls -- like comfort food without the calories.

The person with the bleeding finger doesn't hurt less for the person next to him with the bleeding arm.

The owner was this very thin woman who looked sort of bitchy, which, think about it, most very thin women do-even when they smile, it's like grimacing. Fat people are often miserable too, but at least they LOOK jolly even though it's really mostly them apologizing, like, Sorry, sorry, sorry I'm offending your idea of bodily aesthetics, Sorry I'm clogging my arteries and giving the thumbs-up to diabetes.

We forget how ready people are to help. You can talk all you want about the evil spirit of man. But I don't think it's true. I think most of us are just dying to be good. And one way we can do that is to forgive the bad in others as well as in ourselves. I don't say don't hold people accountable. Help them be accountable. But to say those words to yourself or another? 'I forgive you'? Most powerful words in the world.

Funny how an animal can hurt your feelings when you're all alone.

There are certain things in your life that will become every important to you. You might not be able to explain to anyone else why they're important. But you will expect the people who love you, the people who are your family, to respect those things.

How is it that we dare to honk at others in traffic, when we know nothing about where they have just come from or what they are on their way to?

What mattered was that at the end, someone who loved her sat by her, saying, I see you. I

We're all trapped in a body with limitations, even the most able-bodied among us! And we're all guided by minds with limitations of their own. You want to know my philosophy? It's this: Our job, regardless of our bodily circumstances is to rise above what holds us down, and to help others do the same.

What mattered was that at the end, someone who loved her sat by her, saying, I see you.

People who don't feel cared for are not always comfortable being cared for.

He hesitates, then turns and starts up her walk. Gives her a friendly smile, to boot. He wishes she wouldn't wear a wig, or at least not one that sits so crookedly on her head. It's a distraction. Sometimes he has to restrain himself from reaching over and giving it a little tug, then smacking her knee in a friendly way and saying, "There you go!" But why risk humiliating her?

You know what? That woman's pain being greater than yours doesn't make your pain any less. She deserves the best we can offer, and so do you. Now roll over and hike up your johnnie.

It's funny how, oftentimes, the people you love the most are given the least margin for error.

Oh, why isn't there a Community Center for People Who Need a Little Something? If people would only tell the truth about the way they felt, it would be busy all the time. There could be folding chairs arranged in groups, people sitting there saying, "I don't know, I just wanted to come here for a while." I

Kids don't really see old people. A lot of people don't.

Lincoln sits on the chair and removes his shoes. Then he climbs in bed beside his mother, who does not respond. Jason hopes no one comes in and tells Lincoln to get off the bed. Because he would have to kill that person. He sits in the chair and watches as Lincoln touches his mother's hand, then holds it. The puppy has a name, he tells her. Nothing. Lincoln moves closer to Abby and closes his eyes.

That's what life is, at its best. A confession club: people admitting to doubts and fears and failures. That's what brings us closer to one another, our imperfections.