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Quote by Leslie Jamison

“I wonder if empathy has always been this, in every case: just a bout of hypothetical self-pity projected onto someone else. Is this ultimately just solipsism?”

Quote by Leslie Jamison

Work

The Empathy Exams

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Author

Leslie Jamison
Leslie Jamison

Leslie Jamison is an American novelist born in 1983. Her works are known for their deep self-reflection and delicate portrayal of human emotions. Jamison's writing often explores themes of personal identity, memory, and truth. more

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“When a ruler gives up on empathy and sentiment, it is a sign of desperation. It means they’re paring away emotion in favor of efficiency and numbers and a twisted fantasy of a better life without the joys and burdens of caring about something outside of themselves. Contempt for kindness and generosity is the surest sign there is that someone has nothing else left to them but a horrible emptiness much worse than weakness. It’s an—anti-strength. And the dying monster plods along, unaware it’s rotting.”

“It’s easier, somehow, if there’s a reason for tragedy---lust or jealousy or hatred or revenge. We can find in these explanations an emotional tenor commensurate with the gravity of the act. There’s something we recognize as human, a motive toward which we can direct our rage but can also understand, at some primal level, as an extension of ourselves.”

“But please, please—won’t you—can’t you give me something that will cure Mother?” Up till then he had been looking at the Lion’s great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion’s eyes. They were such a big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.”

“Frau Hermann! Fällt Ihnen denn gar nichts auf? Sie sind sehr intelligent. Sie scheinen auch über einen sehr hohen emotionalen Intelligenzquotienten zu verfügen, und Sie sind über die Maßen empathisch, haben ein ausgezeichnetes Gespür für die Stimmung anderer. Nur bei sich selbst versagen diese Fähigkeiten total. Was Ihre eigenen Gefühle angeht, laufen Sie mit einem dicken Brett vor dem Kopf herum. Das ist merkwürdig. Es stimmt ganz offensichtlich: Sie können alles andere, aber nicht sich selbst spüren!”