"If indeed the qualities such as love, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness are what happiness consists in, and if it is also true that compassion, defined as concern for others, is both the source and the fruit of these qualities, then the more we are compassionate, the more we provide for our own happiness."
Compassion quotes
Compassion
2.4K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Compassion
Browse quotes that often appear alongside compassion — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Compassion quotes (page 31 of 121)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"There is a common perception that compassion is, if not actually an impediment, at least irrelevant to professional life. Personally, I would argue that not only is it relevant, but that when compassion is lacking, our activities are in danger of becoming destructive. This is because when we ignore the question of the impact our actions have on others' well-being, inevitably we end up hurting them."
"With genuine love and compassion, another person's appearance or behavior has no affect on your attitude."
"Death is unimportant to a yogi; he does not mind when he is going to die. What happens after death is immaterial to him. He is only concerned with life-with how he can use his life for the betterment of humanity. Having undergone various types of pain in his life and having acquired a certain mastery over pain, he develops compassion to help society and maintains himself in purity and holiness. The yogi has no interest beyond that."
"In the end we won't be judged as a society solely by our growth statistics or economic activity graphs. We will be judged by the quality of the life that we foster for all members of the community and the compassion we show for the disadvantaged."
"When women and men understand that working to eradicate patriarchal domination is a struggle rooted in the longing to make a world where everyone can live fully and freely, then we know our work to be a gesture of love. Let us draw upon that love to heighten our awareness, deepen our compassion, intensify our courage and strengthen our commitment."
"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust."
"But if you've really learned how to think, how to pay attention, then you will know you have other options. It will be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars - compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things."
"I think the Bhagavad Gita is about both the forces of light and the forces of darkness that exist within our own self, within our own soul; that our deepest nature is one of ambiguity. We have evolutionary forces there - forces of creativity, and love, and compassion, and understanding. But we also have darkness inside us - the diabolical forces of separation, fear and delusion. And in most of our lives, there is a battle going on within ourselves."
"Whatever we focus our attention on will expand in our experience. If we focus on cultivating the higher qualities of love, compassion, joy and peace, they will expand - not only in our own lives, but also into the world beyond."
"Our God is known for His compassion for the needy; let us be known for it as well."
"With compassion, we see benevolently our own human condition and the condition of our fellow beings. We drop prejudice. We withhold judgment."
"Those who do not forgive history are assigned to repeat it until compassion replaces judgment."
"They learned no compassion from their own anguish. thus their suffering was wasted."
"When you cease to exist, then who will you blame?"
"The world is filled with love-play, from animal lust to sublime compassion."
"If the extension of your compassion does not include all living beings, then you will be unable to find peace by yourself."
"Ask yourself if these Democrats still speak for you. When they say we have a duty to grow government even when we can't afford it, does it sound like compassion to you - or recklessness?"
"True compassion arises out of the plane of consciousness where I AM you."
"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. Compassion is bringing our deepest truth into our actions, no matter how much the world seems to resist, because that is ultimately what we have to give this world and one another."