140 Quotes On Compassion

In a world that often feels fast-paced and disconnected, compassion serves as a gentle reminder of our shared humanity. Whether it's a simple act of kindness or an understanding heart, compassion has the power to transform lives and build deeper connections. In this carefully curated collection of 140 quotes, you’ll find timeless wisdom from thinkers, leaders, and artists who remind us of the profound impact compassion can have on both ourselves and the world around us. Dive in and let these words inspire you to embrace compassion in every facet of your life.

1. “Rage — whether in reaction to social injustice, or to our leaders’ insanity, or to those who threaten or harm us — is a powerful energy that, with diligent practice, can be transformed into fierce compassion.” - Bonnie Myotai Treace

2. “Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it's beauty.” - Albert Einstein

3. “Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

4. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” - Plato

5. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama XIV

6. “This is my letter to the worldThat never wrote to me” - Emily Dickinson

7. “I don't want to live in the kind of world where we don't look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anybody who needs a helping hand. I cant change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit.” - Charles de Lint

8. “The thought manifests the word;The word manifests the deed;The deed develops into habit;And habit hardens into character;So watch the thought and its ways with care,And let them spring forth from loveBorn out of compassion for all beings.As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.” - Dhammapada

9. “Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.” - Dalai Lama XIV

10. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” - Jack Kornfield

11. “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” - John Bunyan

12. “We only have what we give.” - Isabel Allende

13. “No one has ever become poor by giving.” - Anne Frank

14. “Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another which both attracts and heals. (attr to J. Isham)” - Sura Hart

15. “Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.” - Bill Ayers

16. “Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.” - Joseph Fort Newton

17. “The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” - Sir Robert Baden-Powell

18. “The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

19. “Thus, when we plead for the gift of charity, we aren't asking for lovely feelings toward someone who bugs us or someone who has injured or wounded us. We are actually pleading for our very natures to be changed, for our character and disposition to become more and more like the Savior's, so that we literally feel as He would feel and thus do what He would do.” - Sheri L. Dew

20. “Love is our most unifying and empowering common spiritual denominator. The more we ignore its potential to bring greater balance and deeper meaning to human existence, the more likely we are to continue to define history as one long inglorious record of man’s inhumanity to man.” - Aberjhani

21. “In solitude we realize that nothing human is alien to us.” - Henri J.M. Nouwen

22. “we unwittingly project onto God our own attitudes and feelings toward ourselves... But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves -- unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely. ” - Brennan Manning

23. “Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps.” - Brennan Manning

24. “It is highly significant and indeed almost a rule, that moral courage has its source in such identification through one's own sensitivity with suffering of one's fellow human beings." (p. 16-17)” - Rollo May

25. “When in Reading Gaol he told me that the warders in the dock had been gentle and kind, but the visit of the chaplain in his first prison began with these words:'Mr. Wilde, did you have morning prayers in your house?''I am sorry... I fear not.''You see where you are now!” - Charles Ricketts

26. “I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead.” - Elton John

27. “Think of the patience God has had for you and let it resonate to others. If you want a more patient world, let patience be your motto” - Steve Maraboli

28. “One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, "I love you", "I'm sorry", "I appreciate you", "I'm proud of you"...whatever you're feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share it...cause a smile today for someone else...and give plenty of hugs.” - Steve Maraboli

29. “Every single time you help somebody stand up you are helping humanity rise.” - Steve Maraboli

30. “Dare to BeWhen a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.When times are tough, dare to be tougher.When love hurts you, dare to love again.When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.Dare to be the best you can –At all times, Dare to be!” - Steve Maraboli

31. “The bank of love is never bankrupt.” - Steve Maraboli

32. “I don't want my life to be defined by what is etched on a tombstone. I want it to be defined by what is etched in the lives and hearts of those I've touched.” - Steve Maraboli

33. “The world gives us PLENTY of opportunities to strengthen our patience. While this truth can definitely be challenging, this is a good thing. Patience is a key that unlocks the door to a more fulfilling life. It is through a cultivation of patience that we become better parents, powerful teachers, great businessmen, good friends, and a live a happier life.” - Steve Maraboli

34. “On the one hand maybe I’ve remained infantile, while on the other I matured quickly, because at a young age I was very aware of suffering and fear.” - Audrey Hepburn

35. “We have to make mistakes, it's how we learn compassion for others.” - Curtis Sittenfeld

36. “I made the choice to be vegan because I will not eat (or wear, or use) anything that could have an emotional response to its death or captivity. I can well imagine what that must feel like for our non-human friends - the fear, the terror, the pain - and I will not cause such suffering to a fellow living being.” - Rai Aren

37. “We habitually erect a barrier called blame that keeps us from communicating genuinely with others, and we fortify it with our concepts of who's right and who's wrong. We do that with the people who are closest to us and we do it with political systems, with all kinds of things that we don't like about our associates or our society. It is a very common, ancient, well-perfected device for trying to feel better. Blame others....Blaming is a way to protect your heart, trying to protect what is soft and open and tender in yourself. Rather than own that pain, we scramble to find some comfortable ground.” - Pema Chodron

38. “Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.” - Dalai Lama

39. “How could it ever be to our purpose to rob another living being of his or her purpose?” - Will Tuttle

40. “I believe in energies. Good energy has served me well. Being fair with others, compassionate towards them, remaining humble, and making a difference to someone are just a few of the things that I have seen create good energy. Beautiful things. Human things. I do my best to surround myself with these types of things, to generate an atmosphere thick with such energy. It has kept me safe in many situations. I have taken risks in the past, and managed to avoid harm by the protection of the good energy I have created around me. I believe that ugliness creates more ugliness. And no matter how touched by ugliness you are, you do not have to give in to it and start spreading it beyond yourself. I have seen this sickness and what it does to a person, and those around them.” - Ashly Lorenzana

41. “It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters,” - Amit Ray

42. “Though beauty is autonomous, there seem to be occasions when human presence can become congruent with her will. In creative work no amount of force or mechanical management can guarantee beauty. Suddenly, without expecting it, beauty is there. Yet ultimately beauty is a profound illumination of presence, a stirring of the invisible in visible form and in order to receive this we need to cultivate a new style of approaching the world.” - John O'Donohue

43. “We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.” - Albert Schweitzer

44. “As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

45. “How can one ever do anything nobly Christian, living among people with such petty thoughts?” - George Eliot

46. “May our daily choices be a reflection of our deepest values, and may we use our voices to speak for those who need us most, those who have no voice, those who have no choice.” - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

47. “With the ferrule of his walking-stick Denis began to scratch the boar's long bristly back. The animal moved a little so as to bring himself within easier range of the instrument that evoked in him such delicious sensations; then he stood stock still, softly grunting his contentment. The mud of years flaked off his sides in a grey powdery scurf. "What a pleasure it is," said Denis, "to do somebody a kindness. I believe I enjoy scratching this pig quite as much as he enjoys being scratched. If only one could always be kind with so little expense or trouble...” - Aldous Huxley

48. “Before I lost my father, I never understood the rituals surrounding funerals: the wake, the service itself, the reception afterward,the dinners prepared by well-meaning friends and delivered in plastic containers, even the popular habit of making poster boards filled with photos of the dear departed. But now I know why we do those things. It's busywork, all of it. I had so much to take care of, so many arrangements to make, so many people to inform, I didn't have a moment to be engulfed by the ocean of grief that was lapping at my heels. Instead, I waded through the shallows, performing task after task, grateful to have duties to propel me forward.” - Wendy Webb

49. “It is curious what patches of hardness and tenderness lie side by side in men’s dispositions. I suppose he has some test by which he finds out whom Heaven cares for.” - George Eliot

50. “Compassion has no place in the natural order of the world which operates on the basis of necessity. Compassion opposes this order and is therefore best thought of as being in some way supernatural.” - John Berger

51. “I want the white one” - Sarah Dessen

52. “Let us remember that animals are not mere resources for human consumption. They are splendid beings in their own right, who have evolved alongside us as co-inheritors of all the beauty and abundance of life on this planet” - Marc Bekoff

53. “It's not about being liberal or conservative, it's about being human.It's not about being rich or poor, it's about being alive and happy.It's not about being right, it's about being considerate and compassionate.” - Karen L. Syed

54. “...It also taught me that while cruelty can be fun for a few moments, compassion has a much longer shelf life.” - Doreen Orion

55. “Whether you believe in God or not does not matter so much, whether you believe in Buddha or not does not matter so much; as a Buddhist, whether you believe in reincarnation or not does not matter so much. You must lead a good life. And a good life does not mean just good food, good clothes, good shelter. These are not sufficient. A good motivation is what is needed: compassion, without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their rights and human dignity.” - Dalai Lama XIV

56. “We ate our fill, but there was more left when we was done. 'It’ll be in the icebox if y’all want some more later on,' she told us. There weren’t no way I would have gone back and eat more. I knowed they was being extra nice to us right then, but if we didn’t act right, they would put us out. That’s how folks do.” - Eddie Whitlock

57. “One evening Milarepa returned to his cave after gathering firewood, only to find it filled with demons. They were cooking his food, reading his books, sleeping in his bed. They had taken over the joint. He knew about nonduality of self and other, but he still didn’t quite know how to get these guys out of his cave. Even though he had the sense that they were just a projection of his own mind—all the unwanted parts of himself—he didn’t know how to get rid of them. So first he taught them the dharma. He sat on this seat that was higher than they were and said things to them about how we are all one. He talked about compassion and shunyata and how poison is medicine. Nothing happened. The demons were still there. Then he lost his patience and got angry and ran at them. They just laughed at him. Finally, he gave up and just sat down on the floor, saying, “I’m not going away and it looks like you’re not either, so let’s just live here together.” At that point, all of them left except one. Milarepa said, “Oh, this one is particularly vicious.” (We all know that one. Sometimes we have lots of them like that. Sometimes we feel that’s all we’ve got.) He didn’t know what to do, so he surrendered himself even further. He walked over and put himself right into the mouth of the demon and said, “Just eat me up if you want to.” Then that demon left too.” - Pema Chodron

58. “I believe the world is divided in three groups: givers, takers and the few that can balance both impulses. Giving and loving is a beautiful thing. It is the currency of compassion and kindness, it is what separates good people from the rest. And without it, the world would be a bleak place. If you are a giver, it is wise to define your boundaries because takers will take what you allow them to; all givers must learn to protect that about themselves or eventually, there is nothing left to give.” - Tiffany Madison

59. “I am grateful to realize that my desires do not entitle me to add to another's suffering.” - Zoe Weil

60. “All it takes for generosity to flow is awareness. By actively pursuing awareness and knowledge, we can make choices that cause less harm and greater good to others in the global community of our shared earth.” - Zoe Weil

61. “No one looks or feels attractive when angry.” - Allan Lokos

62. “To be calm and compassionate you need courage and conviction.” - Solange nicole

63. “Good works is giving to the poor and the helpless, but divine works is showing them their worth to the One who matters.” - Criss Jami

64. “It's not at all hard to understand a person; it's only hard to listen without bias.” - Criss Jami

65. “Christ delves far beyond the means of superficiality, not simply because of his immaculate love, but also because he considers the distinct cases of each individual rather than withholding a broadened perception by use of stereotypes.” - Criss Jami

66. “You honor yourself by acting with dignity and composure.” - Allan Lokos

67. “To forgive does not mean to condone.” - Allan Lokos

68. “The narrator, a time traveler from 2011, scoffs at the despondency caused by the Cuban Missile Crisis -- especially the drug and alcohol use of a resident of 1962 he supposedly cares about. Then he finds his compassion because he remembers he is the exception in being able to see beyond the immediate -- and foreboding -- horizon.” - Stephen King

69. “The difference between a moral person and a person of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, made out of weakness and tries to make amends with their life when they find the opportunity to say they are sorry is lost.” - Shannon Alder

70. “Such lonely, lost things you find on your way. It would be easier, if you were the only one lost. But lost children always find each other, in the dark, in the cold. It is as though they are magnetized and can only attract their like. How I would like to lead you to brave, stalwart friends who would protect you and play games with dice and teach you delightful songs that have no sad endings. If you would only leave cages locked and turn away from unloved Wyverns, you could stay Heartless.” - Catherynne M. Valente

71. “What would you have? Your gentleness shall force More than your force move us to gentleness.” - William Shakespeare

72. “To be mindful entails examining the path we are traveling & making choices that alleviate suffering & bring happiness to ourselves & those around us.” - Allan Lokos

73. “We often get caught up in our own reactions and forget the vulnerability of the person in front of us.” - Sharon Salzberg

74. “The essence of the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) is about identifying the cause of our suffering & alleviating it.” - Allan Lokos

75. “Loving others is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. Altruism that rewards one's self.” - Allan Lokos

76. “It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we do this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement. But if we live for others, we will gradually discover that no expects us to be 'as gods'. We will see that we are human, like everyone else, that we all have weaknesses and deficiencies, and that these limitations of ours play a most important part in all our lives. It is because of them that we need others and others need us. We are not all weak in the same spots, and so we supplement and complete one another, each one making up in himself for the lack in another.” - Thomas Merton

77. “I don't know how to stop the atrocities. I don't know how to make people care. But looking into my sister's eyes, we seem to have carved out something between us that none of the madness can touch. Invisible threads.” - Lisa Shannon

78. “Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives.” - Brené Brown

79. “Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.” - Sharon Salzberg

80. “She said, "You're a warrior. So how do you kill without rage?""In compassion. Because of necessity." Hrahima set the empty water bowl back in Samarkar's hands. "The same way you carry water.” - Elizabeth Bear

81. “We yearn for there to be meaning to our lives, balanced with a sense of inner peace & joy.” - Allan Lokos

82. “The more we genuinely care about others the greater our own happiness & inner peace.” - Allan Lokos

83. “Don't believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that - thoughts.” - Allan Lokos

84. “Compassion is nothing one feels with the intellect alone. Compassion is particular; it is never general.” - Madeleine L'Engle

85. “Thoughts, words, emotions & deeds not coming from love are likely coming from fear.” - Allan Lokos

86. “Your emotional understanding about the preciousness of your human birth comes through conscious, repetitive mind training.” - Tsoknyi Rinpoche

87. “In truth she is not a hard lady naturally, and the time has been when the sight of the venerable figure suing to her with such strong earnestness would have moved her to great compassion. But so long accustomed to suppress emotion and keep down reality, so long schooled for her own purposes in that destructive school which shuts up the natural feelings of the heart like flies in amber and spreads one uniform and dreary gloss over the good and bad, the feeling and the unfeeling, the sensible and the senseless, she had subdued even her wonder until now.” - Charles Dickens

88. “How good life is when one does something good and just!” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

89. “May your GodExtend to youThe same LoveAnd CompassionYou have ProvidedTo Others.” - Kent Forrest

90. “Lately it's started to seem to me that here in America our fetishization of self-reliance has taken a wrong turn and has helped enable us to jettison compassion as a national value while still maintaining a vision of ourselves as essentially well-meaning. It hasn't taken a whole lot of common sense, given the evidence of the last few years, to puzzle out the heartlessness of unregulated capitalism, and yet our political class has embraced even more fervently the notion of every man for himself, even given the ever-growing numbers such a philosophy leaves behind.” - Jim Shepard

91. “It is always so, when we are unhappy we feel more strongly the unhappiness of others; our feeling is not shattered, but becomes concentrated...” - Fyodor Dostoevsky

92. “A visitor asked Lincoln what good news he could take home from an audience with the august executive. The president spun a story about a machine that baffled a chess champion by beating him thrice. The stunned champ cried while inspecting the machine, "There's a man in there!"Lincoln's good news, he confided from the heights of leadership, was that there was in fact a man in there.” - Shelby Foote

93. “Still, we will let all this be a thing of the past, though it hurts us, and beat down by constraint the anger that rises inside us.Now I am making an end of my anger. It does not become me, unrelentingly to rage on” - Homer

94. “I always try to share with others the idea that in order to become compassionate it is not necessary to become religious.” - Dalai Lama XIV

95. “Yes, of course we could all use some help. There isn't a person alive without a need. So don't ask the silly question, just figure out how you're going to help and do it!” - Richelle E. Goodrich

96. “When I save, I lay something aside for future need. If I sense God's leading, I will give it away to meet greater needs. When I hoard, I'm unwilling to part with what I've saved to meet others' needs, because my possible future needs outweigh their actual present needs. I fail to love my neighbor as myself.” - Randy Alcorn

97. “As I crawled out of the abyss of combat and over the rail of the Sea Runner, I realized that compassion for the sufferings of others is a burden to those who have it. As Wilfred Owen's poem "Insensibility" puts it so well, those who feel most of others suffer most in war.” - Eugene B. Sledge With the Old Breed

98. “If people can live through genocide and retain compassion, if they can take strength in pain, if they are able, still, to laugh, then certainly we can learn something from them.” - Eric Greitens

99. “Ecclesiastes names thee Almighty, the Maccabees name thee Creator, the Epistle to the Ephesians names thee Liberty, Baruch names thee Immensity, the Psalms name thee Wisdom and Truth, John names thee Light, the Book of Kings names thee Lord, Exodus names thee Providence, Leviticus Sanctity, Esdras Justice, creation names thee God, man names thee Father; but Solomon names thee Compassion, which is the most beautiful of all thy names.” - Victor Hugo

100. “You ought not to love the individuals of your domestic circle less, but to love those who exist beyond it more. Once make the feelings of confidence and of affection universal, and the distinctions of property and power will vanish; nor are they to be abolished without substituting something equivalent in mischief to them, until all mankind shall acknowledge an entire community of rights.” - Percy Bysshe Shelley

101. “Arrogance is someone claiming to have come to Christ, but they won't spend more than five minutes listening to your journey because they are more concerned about their own well being, rather than being a true disciple of Christ. Blessed is the person that takes the time to heal and hear another person so they can move on.” - Shannon L. Alder

102. “Since my arrival in Rome, I have had many opportunities to wonder if compassion’s opposite is cruelty, or to reflect whether or not indifference would serve as a better black to its white.” - Andrew Levkoff

103. “The universe is not for man alone, but is a theater of evolution for all living beings. Live and let live is its guiding principle. 'Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah' - Non-injury is the highest religion.” - Virchand Raghavji Gandhi

104. “It made Daniel think. The people who had the least were the most willing to share. He outlined a dictum that he would believe the rest of his life: the more people have, the less the give. Similarly, generous cultures produce less waste because excess is shared, whereas stingy nations fill their landfills with leftovers.” - Mark Sundeen

105. “Service is a smile.  It is an acknowledging wave, a reaching handshake, a friendly wink, and a warm hug.   It's these simple acts that matter most, because the greatest service to a human soul has always been the kindness of recognition.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

106. “Need' now means wanting someone else's money. 'Greed' means wanting to keep your own. 'Compassion' is when a politician arranges the transfer.” - Joseph Sobran

107. “No daylight to separate us.Only kinship. Inching ourselves closer to creating a community of kinship such that God might recognize it. Soon we imagine, with God, this circle of compassion. Then we imagine no one standing outside of that circle, moving ourselves closer to the margins so that the margins themselves will be erased. We stand there with those whose dignity has been denied. We locate ourselves with the poor and the powerless and the voiceless. At the edges, we join the easily despised and the readily left out. We stand with the demonized so that the demonizing will stop. We situate ourselves right next to the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.” - Gregory Boyle

108. “Compassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers. The question of what to do with the feelings that have been aroused, the knowledge that has been communicated. If one feels that there is nothing 'we' can do -- but who is that 'we'? -- and nothing 'they' can do either -- and who are 'they' -- then one starts to get bored, cynical, apathetic.” - Susan Sontag

109. “Who are we to make such a decision? To allow another living being - any living being - to die, when ours is the power to prevent it? - Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic)” - John Byrne

110. “Imagine you saw a colour in your dream, which you have never seen before. It doesn't consist of any colours or shades that you know. Trying to describe that colour would be as difficult as trying to belive that there is enough love & compassion in the world so every human can feel happiness.” - Egor Kraft

111. “Someone, somewhere, needs to take courage to break the cycle of violence. Forgiveness is superior to justice. Being kind and compassionate to those who are good to you is easy. True forgiveness and compassion come only when one is able to forgive even those who have committed barbaric acts. If Angulimala is capable of renouncing violence, then tell me, your Majesty: is your civilized society also capable of being truly civilized and renouncing violence?” - Satish Kumar

112. “Am I ever angry or frustrated? I only feel angry sometimes when I see waste, when things that we waste are what people need, things that would save them from dying. Frustrated? No, never.” - Mother Teresa

113. “...writers, like priests, should have compassion...and a sensitivity to pain...” - John Geddes

114. “The point is not that this world is too sad to love or too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it more.” - G.K. Chesterton

115. “Awakening self-compassion is often the greatest challenge people face on the spiritual path.” - Tara Brach

116. “Now there are many, many people in the world, but relatively few with whom we interact, and even fewer who cause us problems. So when you come across such a chance for practicing patience and tolerance, you should treat it with gratitude. It is rare. Just as having unexpectedly found a treasure in your own house, you should be happy and grateful toward your enemy for providing you that precious opportunity. Because if you are ever to be successful in your practice of patience and tolerance, which are critical factors in counteracting negative emotions, it is due to your own efforts and also the opportunity provided by your enemy.” - The Dalai Lama

117. “There are ultimately two choices in life: to fight it or to embrace it. If you fight it you will lose - if you embrace it you become one with it and you'll be lived.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

118. “Tomorrow's leaders will not lead dictating from the front, nor pushing from the back. They will lead from the centre - from the heart” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

119. “The fourth gift is Compassion. May you be gentle with yourself and others. May you forgive those who hurt you and yourself when you make mistakes.” - Charlene Costanzo

120. “But the healing place is within you. Healing is a gift you were granted at birth, just as you were granted others. Use your gifts, child. Use the beauty, the courage, the hope and the love that is in you. Call upon your strength. Use compassion and faith. Even during sad times joy is within you. Bring it forth. Wisdom is there to guide you. Use any one of your gifts and you will rouse the power of your healing place. Use all of them and you will sustain it.” - Charlene Costanzo

121. “No matter who we are, where we live, what we look like, the circumstances of our birth or the situations we face; each of us has gifts within us. Strength, beauty, courage, compassion, hope, joy, talent, imagination, reverence, wisdom, love and faith are among them. They are not like material presents we unwrap and hold in our hands. We can’t see these gifts with our eyes. But they are real and powerful. When we open ourselves to them, they can enrich every aspect of our lives. They can help us transform challenges into opportunities and tragedies into triumphs. They can help us make a difference in the world.” - Charlene Costanzo

122. “Cruel people offer pity when they no longer feel threatened. However, kind people offer compassion and understanding regardless.” - Shannon L. Alder

123. “We can all benefit by learning to express and meet out physical needs in a loving, caressing and compassionate way” - David Bresler

124. “Live,love and learn” - Leo Buscaglia

125. “Once we are able to combine a feeling of empathy for others with a profound understanding of the suffering they experience, we become able to generate genuine compassion for them. We must work at this continually.” - His Holiness the Dalai Lama

126. “There’s often a reason why people and dogs bite. It’s about self-protection. If we respect what we may not know about the suffering of others and look at them compassionately, we open the door that can lead to understanding.” - Jennifer Skiff

127. “one does not remember one’s own pain. It is the suffering of others that undoes us” - Anna Funder

128. “Jesus tells us: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Mk 12:31). How can we love our neighbor if we can’t or won’t love ourselves, at least a little? When we hold ourselves to unrealistic standards, that perfectionist attitude can’t help but trickle down. It becomes harder to have compassion for others if we have no compassion for ourselves.” - Mary DeTurris Poust

129. “You stand for what is right, Lina, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.” - Ruta Sepetys

130. “Don't always use PAIN that you receive as an excuse to GIVE PAIN...” - Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

131. “Where is God when it hurts? We know one answer because God came to earth and showed us. You need only follow Jesus around and note how he responded to the tragedies of his day: large-scale tragedies such as an act of government terrorism in the temple or a tower collapsing on eighteen innocent bystanders; as well as small tragedies, such as a widow who has lost her only son or even a Roman soldier whose servant has fallen ill. At moments like these Jesus never delivered sermons about judgment or the need to accept God’s mysterious providence. Instead he responded with compassion – a word from Latin which simply means, “to suffer with” – and comfort and healings. God stands on the side of those who suffer. (pp.27-28/What Good Is God?)” - Philip Yancey

132. “It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.” - Bruce Lee

133. “Without love and compassion, nothing is sacred.” - Bryant McGill

134. “Pruned my subconscious. Discovered new shoots.” - Sally Jo Martine

135. “In our hearts... there must abide some pity for those people who have always felt themselves to be separate from even their most familiar surroundings, those people who either are foreigners or who suffer a singular point of view that makes them feel as if they’re foreigners - even in their native lands. In our hearts... there also abides a certain suspicion that such people need to feel set apart from their society. But people who initiate loneliness are no less lonely than those who are suddenly surprised by loneliness, nor are they undeserving of our pity.” - John Irving

136. “Interestingly, one mate of mine, a proper leftie, in his heyday all Red Wedge and right-on punch-ups, was melancholy. "I thought I'd be overjoyed, but really it's just … another one bites the dust …" This demonstrates, I suppose, that if you opposed Thatcher's ideas it was likely because of their lack of compassion, which is really just a word for love. If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies.” - Russell Brand

137. “I could really use someone else's smile today.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

138. “True compassion sees each person as a brother or sister and acts accordingly.” - Dillon Burroughs

139. “The true test of faith is how we treat those who can do nothing for us in return.” - Dillon Burroughs

140. “Our God is known for His compassion for the needy; let us be known for it as well.” - Dillon Burroughs