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Empathy Quotes

Browse 3172 quotes about Empathy.

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Empathy Quotes

“The integrative tendencies of the individual operate through the mechanisms of empathy, sympathy, projection, introjection, identification, worship- all of which make him feel that he is a part of some larger entity which transcends the boundaries of the individual self. This psychological urge to belong, to participate, to commune is as primary and real as its opposite. The all-important question is the nature of that higher entity of which the individual feels himself a part.”

FeelsImportantRealSelfIndividualSocietyHigherWorshipEmpathyOppositesBoundariesTendenciesPsychologicalPrimariesUrgesMechanismEntityProjectionIdentificationImportant QuestionsCommunes
Author:Arthur Koestler
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“Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.”

SelfPeaceRaceKindnessSacrificeEmpathyCharityPossessionGenerosityBe KindPhilanthropyGentlenessExclusiveNon ViolenceSelf SacrificePhilanthropicGiving To CharityCharity And GivingGenerosity And KindnessKindness GenerosityYour GenerosityCharity And GenerosityPersonal Sacrifice
Book:Glorious Thoughts of Gandhi: Being a Treasury of about Ten Thousand Valuable and Inspiring Thougths of Mahatma Gandhi, Classified Under Four Hundred Subjects
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“I dislike the phrase ‘Internet friends,’ because it implies that people you know online aren’t really your friends, that somehow the friendship is less real or meaningful to you because it happens through Skype or text messages. The measure of a friendship is not its physicality but its significance.”

PeopleKnowsGivingRealSelfHappensInternetComfortMessagesEmpathyPrisonMeaningfulPhrasesOnlineUrgesSignificanceDislikeGood FriendPhysicalityText MessageSkypeGood Friendship
Author:John Green
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“Writing itself, if not misunderstood and abused, becomes a way of empowering the writing self. It converts anger and disappointment into deliberate and durable aggression, the writer's main source of energy. It converts sorrow and self-pity into empathy, the writer's main means of relating to otherness. Similarly, his wounded innocence turns into irony, his silliness into wit, his guilt into judgment, his oddness into originality, his perverseness into his stinger.”

IfsWayWritingMeanSelfTurnsEnergySourceSorrowJudgmentEmpathyGuiltDisappointmentWitPityInnocenceIronyEmpoweringOriginalityAggressionWoundedMisunderstoodDeliberateSelf PityOthernessSillinessOddnessPerverseness
Author:Ted Solotaroff
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“You're part of the human fabric of experience. You don't have to have cancer to write about cancer. You don't have to have somebody close to you die to understand what death is. Definitely, the more you live, the more experiences fall into your spectrum. As a writer, you must have been told: Write about what you know. But Kafka didn't. Gogol didn't. Did Shakespeare write only what he knew? Our own selves are limitless. And our capacity for empathy is giant.”

KnowsWritingHumansHas BeensSelfDiesFallEmpathyCapacityCancerGiantsFabricLimitlessSpectrumGogol
Author:Regina Spektor
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“The earliest issue I can remember going through was body image issues. I was a chubby little kid and I got made fun of for it. I dealt with horrible, horrible self esteem issues, and I still struggle with that. I think it's what taught me a lot of empathy and compassion, though, but there are those days where I look in the mirror and I still see twelve year old fat Sara.”

ThinkingYearsLooksLittlesMadeStillsI CanSelfBodyKidsRememberFunCompassionStruggleIssuesSelf EsteemTaughtEmpathyMirrorsHorribleFatsEsteemTwelveLittle KidBody ImageCompassion And EmpathySelf Esteem Issues
Author:Sara Bareilles
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“The Democrats are as concerned about raising our kids and making sure that the values of empathy and hard work and discipline and self-respect are instilled in our children, and I've got a six-year-old daughter and a three-year-old daughter, and I'm not afraid to talk about how I want to provide them with the sort of cultural framework that's going to allow them to be successful, happy people.”

PeopleWantYearsChildrenSelfHardKidsValuesThreeSuccessfulHard WorkDisciplineSixEmpathyDaughterConcernedOur ChildrenDemocratSelf RespectBeing SuccessfulThree YearsNot AfraidFrameworkHappy PeopleSix Year OldsThree Year Olds
Author:Barack Obama
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“We often think that "bad" relationships are motivating by self-loathing or a wish for self-destruction, but I think that loving people who hurt us is more tied to a profound and earnest wish to soothe ourselves and recover from older hurts. And I've also found that having empathy for that urge is the best way to move through it, and beyond it.”

PeopleThinkingWaySelfMovingFoundWishHurtEmpathyDestructionProfoundBest WayUrgesTiedEarnestLoathingSelf DestructionSelf LoathingBad Relationship
Author:Melissa Febos
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“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

IfsWantInspirationalSelfHappinessFunCompassionPracticeKindnessTeacherEmpathyMercyHappyBuddhistCompassionateBeing HappyPursuit Of HappinessFinding HappinessGreat HappinessLife HappinessPeople In Your LifeSelf CompassionLove And CompassionJoy And HappinessPeace And HappinessKindness And CompassionInner HappinessLoving KindnessJust Be HappyJoy HappinessWant To Be HappyLife And HappinessTibetHow To Be HappySelf HappinessArt Of HappinessKindness To OthersSecret To HappinessGenerosity And KindnessKindness GenerosityWords Of KindnessWhat Is HappinessPersonal HappinessLooking For HappinessCompassion For OthersBe Kind To OthersOthers HappinessNo CompassionHappier LifeHuman CompassionCompassion For YourselfBuddhism HappinessBeing Happy With LifeCompassion And EmpathyI Just Want To Be HappyI Want To Be HappyHappy SpiritPursuing HappinessJust Want To Be HappyCaring And CompassionTibetan Buddhist
Book:The Wisdom of Compassion: Stories of Remarkable Encounters and Timeless Insights
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“A fight is going on inside me," said an old man to his son. "It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you." The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Which wolf will win?" The old man replied simply, "The one you feed.”

MenSaidTwoSelfJoyLyingFightingEvilWinningCompassionKindnessMinutesHumilitySonRegretPrideTerribleSorrowEgoEmpathyGuiltGreedEnvyPityGenerosityArroganceOld ManResentmentSerenitySuperiorityBenevolenceInferioritySelf PityPeace LoveHope LoveFalse PrideTwo Wolves
Author:Wendy Mass
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“If your understanding of the divine made you kinder, more empathetic, and impelled you to express sympathy in concrete acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made you unkind, belligerent, cruel, of self-righteous, or if it led you to kill in God's name, it was bad theology.”

IfsLoveMadeSelfGodReligionNamesUnderstandingDifferencesCompassionKindnessDivineEmpathyNotionKillingTheologySympathyRighteousConcreteUnkindKinderSelf RighteousLoving KindnessEmpatheticUnkindnessBelligerence
Book:The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness
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“Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection - or compassionate action.”

WorldMindSelfProblemSeemsActionFormCompassionFocusEmpathyCapacityConnectionsIncreaseSelfishnessOur WorldContractsCompassionatePreoccupationAbsorptionSelf AbsorptionPeripherySocial IntelligenceSelfish World
Author:Daniel Goleman
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“Love is about bottomless empathy, born out of the heart’s revelation that another person is every bit as real as you are. And this is why love, as I understand it, is always specific. Trying to love all of humanity may be a worthy endeavor, but, in a funny way, it keeps the focus on the self, on the self’s own moral or spiritual well-being. Whereas, to love a specific person, and to identify with his or her struggles and joys as if they were your own, you have to surrender some of your self.”

IfsWayTryingWellsHeartMayPersonsRealSelfSpiritualJoyHumanityBitsBornLove IsMoralStruggleFocusEmpathyWorthySurrenderWell BeingRevelationsEndeavor
Book:Farther Away: Essays
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“Suppose you read about a pill that you could take once a day to reduce anxiety and increase your contentment. Would you take it? Suppose further that the pill has a great variety of side effects, all of them good: increased self-esteem, empathy, and trust; it even improves memory. Suppose, finally, that the pill is all natural and costs nothing. Now would you take it? The pill exists. It is meditation.”

SelfSpiritualSuccessSidesNaturalMemoriesCompassionWorryMeditationEffectsSelf EsteemTrustCostAnxietyMindfulnessEmpathyIncreaseStressEsteemVarietyContentmentSympathyRelaxationPillsStress ReliefSpiritual HealingSide EffectsSpiritual TransformationSupposing
Book:The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
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“When the other person is hurting, confused, troubled, anxious, alienated, terrified; or when he or she is doubtful of self-worth, uncertain as to identity, then understanding is called for. The gentle and sensitive companionship of an empathic stance… provides illumination and healing. In such situations deep understanding is, I believe, the most precious gift one can give to another.”

GivingBelievePersonsSelfI BelieveUnderstandingHurtHealingSituationIdentityEmpathySelf WorthGentleSensitiveConfusedAnxiousUncertainTerrifiedCompanionshipIlluminationDoubtfulStancePrecious GiftsDeep Understanding
Author:Carl Rogers
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“There is another peculiar satisfaction in really hearing someone: It is like listening to the music of the spheres, because beyond the immediate message of the person, no matter what that might be, there is the universal. Hidden in all of the personal communications which I really hear there seem to be orderly psychological laws, aspects of the same order we find in the universe as a whole. So there is both the satisfaction of hearing this person and also the satisfaction of feeling one's self in touch with what is universally true.”

PersonsSelfMatterWholeFeelingsSeemsMightLawOrderUniverseCommunicationListeningMessagesEmpathyAspectUniversalNo Matter WhatSatisfactionHearingPsychologicalPeculiarSpheresOrderly
Book:A Way of Being
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“The more authentic you become, the more genuine in your expression, particularly regarding personal experiences and even self-doubts, the more people can relate to your expression and the safer it makes them feel to express themselves. That expression, in turn, feeds on the other person's spirit, and genuine creative empathy takes place, producing new insights and learnings and a sense of excitement and adventure that keeps the process going.”

PeopleFeelsPersonsSelfSpiritTurnsProcessCreativeDoubtAdventureExpressionEmpathyInsightGenuineRelateExcitementPersonal ExperiencesSelf-doubt
Book:The Stephen R. Covey Interactive Reader - 4 Books in 1: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and the Best of the Most Renowned Leadership Teacher of our Time
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“My art and my self-expression in any form has always been an attempt towards sincerity, honesty, and empathy for others. For a multitude of reasons both professional and personal I no longer feel that this is possible within [Crystal Castles]. Although this is the end of the band, I hope my fans will embrace me as a solo artist in the same way they have embraced Crystal Castles.”

WayFeelsArtEndsSelfReasonFormArtistFansHonestyExpressionBandEmpathyEmbraceSincerityMultitudesSoloCastlesCrystalsSelf ExpressionArtistryMusicianship
Author:Alice Glass
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“Each of us is the main character of our story, but we are also minor characters in countless other narratives. ... Right now, as you read this sentence, someone is watching a sunset on the other side of the world, someone is grieving their first heartbreak... Our joys and sorrows are part of a collective thread of life. Recognising the life beyond ours can bring humility”

LifeSelfPhilosophyHumanityHumilityPerspectiveEmpathyConnectionOther PeopleCollective
Author:Ajmal, from the book "Borders of the Inner World"
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“Love seeketh not Itself to please Nor for itself hath any care, But for another gives its ease And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.' So sung a little Clod of Clay Trodden with the cattle's feet, But a Pebble of the brook Warbled out these metres meet: 'Love seeketh only Self to please, To bind another to Its delight, Joys in another's loss of ease, And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite.”

LoveSelfCompassionEmpathyWilliam Blake
Book:Songs of Innocence and Experience
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“To begin to know ourselves we must have sincere conversations with ourselves as if with a good friend. We must answer without reserve, listen without judgement, and accept without condition. That is self-love.”

LoveKindSelfQuotesFriendshipCompassionKnowledgeKindnessSelf HelpAcceptanceSelf LoveJudgmentMindfulnessEmpathySelf ImprovementQuoteGoodImprovementJudgementCompassionateLove QuoteFriendLoverSincerelyKnowBetterKamandKojouriKamand KojouriListenMindfulJudgeBettermentAcceptAskAnswerConversationsHearBeginOurselvesConditionRespondReserveConverseListenerReply
Author:Kamand Kojouri
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“What happens out there is public—or at least fairly public," he qualified. "And what happens when somebody speaks or writes words—that's also public. But the things that go on inside these little circles are private. Private." He laid a hand on his chest. "Private." He rubbed his forehead. "Private." He touched his eyelids and the tip of his nose with a brown forefinger. "Now let's make a simple experiment. Say the word 'pinch.' " "Pinch," said the class in ragged unison. "Pinch . . ." "P-I-N-C-H—pinch. That's public, that's something you can look up in the dictionary. But now pinch yourselves. Hard! Harder!" To an accompaniment of giggles, of aies and ows, the children did as they were told. "Can anybody feel what the person sitting next to him is feeling?" There was a chorus of noes. "So it looks," said the young man, "as though there were-— let's see, how many are we?" He ran his eyes over the desks before him. "It looks as though there were twenty-three distinct and separate pains. Twenty-three in this one room. Nearly three thousand million of them in the whole world. Plus the pains of all the animals. And each of these pains is strictly private. There's no way of passing the experience from one center of pain to another center of pain.”

SelfPainEmpathyExperiencePrivacy
Book:Island
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“Life is paradoxical, but it is enough for me. Ridiculous conflicts and inconsistencies admittedly congeal into what I term the self. Personal growth commences by honing in on the troubling personal issues. I am my only enemy. A radiant soul strives for self-enrichment by passionately pursuing the serious tasks and delights of living including expressing empathy for other people. I will explore the world and attempt to eliminate the perversions of my own egocentric being.”

SelfLife LessonsEmpathyPersonal GrowthPhilosophy Of LifeParadoxEgocentricConflicting EmotionsParadox Of Life
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
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“And this is the most provocative situation, is it not? It invites abuse, manipulation, tyranny, subjection. A person is supposed to accommodate herself--himself--absolutely to another person. It is unnatural. OK, but it's nature that sets it up in the first place. Of course, of course. It is unnatural and provocative and precarious and challenging. It demands forbearance and stamina and abnormal powers of empathy and perception. It is also... And yes, it is also all those other things. The opposite. The converse. The place you want to be.”

LoveSelfRelationshipsEmpathyForbearanceAccomodation
Book:The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories
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