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Empathy Quotes
"Empathy is the new measurement of everything. It doesn't matter what religion you have, what God you profess to believe in; it doesn't matter how rich you are or how poor you are, what church you go to or what church you don't go to; the only measure of character is empathy. Do you have empathy? You are a person of valuable character. Do you not have empathy for your fellow man? None of your rules and opinions, dogma and preferences, are going to save your soul. So I say it's empathy. Empathy is the new universal measurement of a man."
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"When we become acquainted with any person on a human level, even a great enemy, we begin to see that no person is really so different from ourselves."
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"You're Not AloneWhen I was speaking to thousands of teenagers a year, I interviewed my niece Sarah Jane, who was a high school student at the time. I asked, "What do you think would be helpful for kids to know that would make a difference in their lives. She said, "I was terrified, but I put on a happy face so that no one else would know. What I didn't realize is that everyone else was as scared as I was." Knowing others may feel the same way as you can make social situations feel less awkward. When approaching new people, find ways to put those at ease who might be reluctant to approach us otherwise. Where Can You Begin to Mix, Mingle & Glow?"
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"Neuroscience makes us connect with each other at an emotional level. It makes us make friends. It makes us dream more positively. It makes us more optimistic about ourselves and the world even in our darkest days. It makes us achieve our goal endowed with strength even through immense miseries. It allows us to attain the subjective reality of our fellow humans. Imbued with the understanding of the mind we can walk in the shoes of other people."
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"The pain of humanity's most maltreated victims echoes deep within each of us, in the form of our shame or ignorance."
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"I couldn't think of anyone I'd ever felt sorry for. There were plenty of kids I was envious of. There were others I achingly admired, but that might simply be another form of jealousy. Then there were those I feared, dreaded. And the worst of them, the man who shamed me. I could see my father's angry features looming over my mother. I could clearly picture her beside him in his truck, cowering against the door while he belittled and assaulted her. I guess I did know someone I felt sorry for."
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"Any empathic person who knows how valuable time is will think twice before wasting another person's time, because losing time is losing a part of your life."
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"Learn to see in another's calamity the ills which you should avoid."
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"We often get caught up in our own reactions and forget the vulnerability of the person in front of us."
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"We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking - while cultivating power and clarity in response to difficult situations."
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"No one is so accursed by fate No one so utterly desolate But some heart though unknown Responds unto his own."
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"Vulnerability in the face of constant change is what we share, whatever our present condition."
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"Don't just listen to people crying, hear the reasons why they cry."
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"Everyone is overcoming something, be gentle."
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"In youth, the greatest success is to see the world from the eyes of the aged people and to feel exactly how they feel."
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"Grover started to sniffle and I figured if I didn't cheer him up he'd either start bawling or chewing up my mattress. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset."
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"There's something so quietly contained in the moments when one reaches their hand out to support your tragedy. It's hardly ever spoken about, but the feeling of belonging to somewhere, or someone for a split second, gives you enough power to carry on a few more steps. When the world is full of compassionate people like this, the world will know Unconditional Love."
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"Apathy is, too often, a result of overexposure to stressful, highly emotional situations. To rekindle empathy, sometimes we need some space. It's okay to walk away so that you can feel love for someone again. Sometimes for a moment. Sometimes forever."
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"People talk and people listen, but very few care enough to help."
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"In return, Giovanni told me that empathizing Italians say L'ho provato sulla mia pelle, which means 'I have experienced that on my own skin.' Meaning, I have also been burned or scarred in this way, and I know exactly what you're going through."
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"Then I give her a grim shake of my head and say aloud, 'This blows ass.' She nods sympathetically. She doesn't understand, but of course, in her way she understands completely."
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"You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them."
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"It is when suffering finds a voice andsets our nerves quivering that this pity comes troubling us."
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"Empathy needs no genius."
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"You see, it's about empathy. It's not about you. It's about empathy. It's not even about caring or being kind. It's about empathy. Do you think that all people who can empathize with other people (and rocks and trees), are desirous of being kind, at all times? Of course not! Empathy often hurts, and is often difficult. But we experience this difficulty, because we are human beings, because human beings are designed to connect with other living and non-living things!"
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"Maybe we have shoes so we can learn to walk in another's oath before judging their footsteps?"
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"If you give pain to someone out there, you will start to feel the pain within you! Such is the science of the Vitraags [the enlightened ones]. If you take everyone's pain for one lifetime, it will make up for losses of infinite lifetimes!"
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"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true."
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"Because no one is walking in your shoes, only you feel the sores on your feet."
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"If only this great concern we have for our own sensitive feelings expanded to encompass the feelings of our fellow men."
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"The theory of positivity teaches us to, "always look on the bright side" and to, "point out the bright side to others". However, any highly empathic individual will know, that this mindset alienates us from other people. What connects us with other people is the ability to identify with what they are feeling and thinking, regardless of whether or not we've actually been in their place before. If you want to point someone out to the light, first you need to get into their dark cave with them, light a candle, and say, "Hey, I'm here with you and look, remember what the light feels like?" That's the kind of positivity that actually bears real change in people, in the world."
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"Maybe you receive pain selfishly - thinking only of yourself. The cycle of pain wounds every participant."
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"As a child, I once suffered a bad fall that resulted in scratched palms and scraped knees. I remember how badly it stung, the cold air hitting my bleeding wounds; I felt that I couldn't stand up for the pain. Through a veil of tears, I recall a kind hand reaching for me and helping me to my feet. My knees and palms were washed clean, and I remember thinking that for the rest of my life, I wanted to help people stand back up."
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"As a kid my heart would break for the villains."
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"Those who are without compassion cannot see what is seen with the eyes of compassion."
"I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person."
"Sometimes all you can do is hug a friend tightly and wish that their pain could be transferred by touch to your own emotional hard drive."
"Mostly we tell the story of our lives, or mostly we're taught to tell it, as a quest to avoid suffering, though if your goal is a search for meaning, honor, experience, the same events may be victories or necessary steps. Then the personal matters; it's home; but you can travel in and out of it, rather than being marooned there. The leprosy specialist Paul Brand wrote, "Pain, along with its cousin touch, is distributed universally on the body, providing a sort of boundary of self," but empathy, solidarity, allegiance--the nerves that run out into the world--expand the self beyond its physical bounds."
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