“Indeed, insight is the true hallmark of empathy. The power of true empathy is its ability to give us a fresh understanding of the other person's emotions and thoughts to illuminate an aspect of their experience that would not have been apparent to us had we not stepped into their shoes.”

“Empathy is the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person. It has both emotional and cognitive aspects, involving the ability to tune into the emotions experienced by another.”

“Reading fiction not only develops our imagination and creativity, it gives us the skills to be alone. It gives us the ability to feel empathy for people we've never met, living lives we couldn't possibly experience for ourselves, because the book puts us inside the character's skin.”

“It's the discomforting end of humankind's bargain with consciousness. We empathize with other beings and imagine we feel their pain. Either the empathy binds us to the mechanics of live, or we shut the empathy off. ”

“Intellectual empathy requires us to think within the viewpoints of others, especially those we think are wrong.”

“It will always remain true that if we had been greater, circumstance would have been less strong against us.”