quotations about compassion
Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it.
HENRI J. M. NOUWEN
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The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Compassion is no substitute for justice.
RUSH LIMBAUGH
"35 Undeniable Truths of Life"
A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
attributed, Einstein and Zen: Learning to Learn
Each of us has only a quantum of compassion ... if we lavish our concern on every stray cat, we never get to the centre of things.
JOHN LE CARRÉ
Tinker
Compassion is the basis of all truthful relationship: it means being present with love--for ourselves and for all life, including animals, fish, birds, and trees.
RAM DASS
Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service
A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
"Of Mankind", Les Caractères
Compassion--that's the one thing no machine ever had. Maybe it's the one thing that keeps man ahead of them.
D.C. FONTANA
Star Trek: The Ultimate Computer