Quotes About Empathy

Two different sets of philosophers have attempted to teach us this hardest of all the lessons of morality. One set have laboured to increase our sensibility to the interests of others; another, to diminish that to our own. The first would have us feel for others as we naturally feel for ourselves. The second would have us feel for ourselves, as we naturally feel for others.

The attitude behind your words is as important as the words themselves.

Children don't need to have their feelings agreed with; they need to have them acknowledged.

It's important to make a distinction between allowing feelings and allowing actions," I replied. "We permit children to express all their feelings. We don't permit them to hurt each other. Our job is to show them how to express their anger without doing damage.

Sometimes just having someone understand how much you want something makes reality easier to bear. So

Parents don't usually give this kind of response, because they fear that by giving a name to the feeling they'll make it worse. Just the opposite is true. The child who hears the words for what she is experiencing is deeply comforted. Someone has acknowledged her inner experience.

It's also not helpful when parents respond with more intensity than the child feels.

Imagine," I thought, "a world in which brothers and sisters grow up in homes where hurting isn't allowed; where children are taught to express their anger at each other sanely and safely; where each child is valued as an individual, not in relation to the others; where cooperation, rather than competition is the norm; where no one is trapped in a role; where children have daily experience and guidance in resolving their differences.

Children Need to Have Their Feelings Accepted and Respected. 1. YOU CAN LISTEN QUIETLY AND ATTENTIVELY. 2. YOU CAN ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR FEELINGS WITH A WORD.     ââ'¬Å"Oh . . . Mmm . . . I see . . ." 3. YOU CAN GIVE THE FEELING A NAME.     ââ'¬Å"That sounds frustrating!" 4. YOU CAN GIVE THE CHILD HIS WISHES IN FANTASY.     ââ'¬Å"I wish I could make the banana ripe for you right now!

Children often experience praise of a brother or sister as a put-down of themselves. They automatically translate, 'Your brother is so considerate' into 'Mom thinks I'm not.' It's a good idea to save our enthusiastic comments for the ear of the deserving child.

The more you try to push a child's unhappy feelings away, the more he becomes stuck in them. The more comfortable you can accept the bad feelings, the easier it is for kids to leg go of them.

None taken, son. I'd love to see things from your point of view but I can't get my head that far up my arse.

How her fist fits my palm, A bunch of consolation.

Women are emotional creatures. You have to listen to them to figure out what they are saying. Show your wife steadfast loyalty.

This is one of those times when explaining a feeling cannot measure up to actually having the feeling

All you needed is what every girl needs, a good friend. Someone to talk to, to share with, to run things by...

There are many gifts a friend brings to a woman's life. History. Empathy. Honesty. Lucky was the woman who kept a childhood friend because that friend remembered what you looked like, who you were, and your people. Lucky was the woman who had a friend from the age of ten, when girls were brave, gutsy, and full of questions and had the time and pep to seek the answers. That friend knew who you really were. That friend had seen your soul.

If you truly love someone, when he is cut, you bleed.

The intimacy. The deepest level of love. The knowledge that someone understands you, is rooting for you, is sharing your life.

Concetta is being duped. But you should never look down on someone for trusting the wrong person. It could happen to any of us.

There is no worse feeling than being unable to assuage the suffering of the innocent.

That we looked out for one another- that we watched out for each other's kids and shared the harvest of our gardens and took care of our old people, and when we did the little things, like bake a cake, we'd bake two, one for our home and one for the neighbor.

How can you quantify the moment when a person laughs, or when they cry, when they feel? You can't. It's the human experience.

You see, that's when you know for sure somebody loves you. They figure out what you need and they give it to you—without you asking.