Compassion quotes
2.4K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside compassion — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"The principle of compassion is that which converts disillusionment into a participatory companionship. This is the basic love, the charity, that turns a critic into a living human being who has something to give to - as well as to demand of - the world."
"In nothing does man, with his grand notions of heaven and charity, show forth his innate, low-bred, wild animalism more clearly than in his treatment of his brother beasts. From the shepherd with his lambs to the red-handed hunter, it is the same; no recognition of rights - only murder in one form or another."
"Fear, O Achilles, the wrath of heaven; think on your own father and have compassion upon me, who am the more pitiable"
"Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory."
"No-one knows what the soul is. But what we do know is, the soul is where God works compassion"
"It is better that a judge should lean on the side of compassion than severity."
"True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power."
"We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion."
"If you want to understand your parents more, get them to talk about their own childhood; and if you listen with compassion, you will learn where their fears and rigid patterns come from. Those people who "did all that stuff to you" were just as frightened and scared as you are."
"Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don’t want it."
"Criminals, people who commit crimes, usually society rejects these people. They are also part of our society. Give them some form of punishment to say they were wrong, but show them they are part of society and can change. Show them compassion."
"Meditation is valuable for all of humanity because it involves looking inward. People don't have to be religious to look inside themselves more carefully. It is constructive and worthwhile to analyze our emotions, including compassion and our sense of caring, so that we can become more calm and happy."
"The cultivation of compassion is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, if our species is to survive."
"Compassion is not helpless pity, but an awareness and determination that demands action."
"Compassion is something really worthwhile. It is not just a religious or spiritual subject, not a matter of ideology. It is not a luxury, it is a necessity."
"We need a little more compassion, and if we cannot have it, then no politician or even a magician can save the planet."
"To conquer oneself is a greater victory than to conquer thousands in a battle."
"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal."
"We need to employ a secular approach to ethics, secular in the Indian sense of respecting all religious traditions and even the views of non-believers in an unbiased way. Secular ethics rooted in scientific findings, common experience and common sense can easily be introduced into the secular education system. If we can do that there is a real prospect of making this 21st century an era of peace and compassion."
"My message is the practice of compassion, love and kindness."
