72 Inspiring Quotes About Empathy (COMPASSION)

Top 12 Most Famous Quotes About Empathy (BEST)

“Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’”
Brene Brown

The highest form of knowledge is empathy. - Bill Bullard — The highest form of **knowledge** is empathy. – Bill Bullard

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it. - Maya Angelou — I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough **courage** to display it. – **Maya Angelou**

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Looking at various means of developing compassion, I think empathy is an important factor the ability to appreciate others’ suffering. - Dalai Lama — Looking at various means of developing compassion, I think empathy is an important factor: the **ability** to appreciate others’ suffering. – **Dalai Lama**

Whenever you feel like criticizing any one… just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had. - F. Scott Fitzgerald — Whenever you feel like criticizing any one… just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had. – **F. Scott Fitzgerald**

“If you aren’t humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you.”
Anand Mahindra

Empathy begins with understanding life from another person's perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It's all through our own individual prisms. - Sterling K. Brown — Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective. Nobody has an objective **experience** of reality. It’s all through our own individual prisms. – Sterling K. Brown

Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another. - Alfred Adler — Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another. – Alfred Adler

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question - What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize? - Marcus Aurelius — Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question – What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize? – **Marcus Aurelius**

You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself. - John Steinbeck — You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself. – **John Steinbeck**

All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart. - Tahereh Mafi — All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart. – Tahereh Mafi

Top 20 Quotes About Empathy That Will Grow Your Compassion For Others

“We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.”
Carl Rogers

Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. - Dalai Lama — Compassion and **tolerance** are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of **strength**. – Dalai Lama

Have compassion and empathy in your heart. Many people are suffering deep emotional anguish beneath the surface of their lives, and smile even as they hurt inside. - Jim Palmer — Have compassion and empathy in your heart. Many people are suffering deep emotional anguish beneath the surface of their lives, and **smile** even as they hurt inside. – Jim Palmer

“Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It’s the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else’s pain is as meaningful as your own.”
Barbara Kingsolver

The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy. - Meryl Streep — The great **gift** of human beings is that we have the power of empathy. – **Meryl Streep**

We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer — We must **learn** to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. – **Dietrich Bonhoeffer**

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
Leo Buscaglia

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. - Ernest Hemingway — When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. – **Ernest Hemingway**

Empathy is understanding the sorrow or loss of another person. Put yourself in the other person's shoes and imagine how you would feel. - Byron Pulsifer — Empathy is understanding the sorrow or loss of another person. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and imagine how you would feel. – Byron Pulsifer

“Learning to give empathy to myself and others as often as I can each day has rendered astounding benefits….Empathy leads to compassion and compassion to forgiveness and connection.”
Judith Hanson Lasater

An empathic person is a good listener, patient, understanding, and kind. - Laura Raskin — An empathic person is a good listener, **patient**, understanding, and **kind**. – Laura Raskin

One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient. - Charles M. Blow — One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient. – Charles M. Blow

“Sometimes all a person wants is an empathetic ear; all he or she needs is to talk it out. Just offering a listening ear and an understanding heart for his or her suffering can be a big comfort.”
Roy T. Bennett

Empathy takes time, and efficiency is for things, not people. - Stephen Covey — Empathy takes **time**, and efficiency is for things, not people. – **Stephen Covey**

Give Compassion Every day the average person fights epic battles never told just to survive. - Ken Poirot — Give Compassion: Every day the average person fights epic battles never told just to survive. – Ken Poirot

“Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it’s up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.”
Barack Obama

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. - Harper Lee — You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. – **Harper Lee**

Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself. - Mohsin Hamid — Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself. – Mohsin Hamid

Proactive responding is the ability to listen to the other person’s feelings and empathize without taking responsibility for those feelings. - Clive Harman — Proactive responding is the ability to listen to the other person’s feelings and empathize without taking **responsibility** for those feelings. – Clive Harman

If you do not practice empathy and forgiveness for your actions, it will be impossible to practice empathy with others. - Laura Raskin — If you do not practice empathy and forgiveness for your actions, it will be impossible to practice empathy with others. – Laura Raskin

Top 20 Empathy Quotes That Will Touch Your Heart

“Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection – or compassionate action.”
Daniel Goleman

Anyone who has experienced a certain amount of loss in their life has empathy for those who have experienced loss. - Anderson Cooper — Anyone who has experienced a certain amount of loss in their life has empathy for those who have experienced loss. – **Anderson Cooper**

The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism. - Hannah Arendt — The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a **culture** about to fall into barbarism. – Hannah Arendt

“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.”
Daniel H. Pink

When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you. - Susan Sarandon — When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you. – Susan Sarandon

When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems. - Stephen Covey — When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more **creative** in solving problems. – Stephen Covey

To perceive is to suffer. - Aristotle — To perceive is to suffer. – **Aristotle**

“If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.”
Daniel Goleman

The struggle of my life created empathy – I could relate to pain, being abandoned, having people not love me. - Oprah Winfrey — The struggle of my life created empathy – I could relate to pain, being abandoned, having people not love me. – **Oprah Winfrey**

The opposite of anger is not calmness. It’s empathy. - Mehmet Oz — The opposite of anger is not calmness. It’s empathy. – Mehmet Oz

Stay connected to feel empathy, compassion, and understanding for yourself and others. - Vanessa Tucker — Stay connected to feel empathy, compassion, and understanding for yourself and others. – Vanessa Tucker

“Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn.”
Alice Miller

It’s the hardest thing in the world to go on being aware of someone else’s pain. - Pat Barker — It’s the hardest thing in the world to go on being aware of someone else’s pain. – Pat Barker

Empathy is a skill like any other human skill. If you get a chance to practice, you can get better at it. - Professor Simon Baron Cohen — Empathy is a skill like any other human skill. If you get a **chance** to practice, you can get better at it. – Professor Simon Baron Cohen

“Humans aren’t as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'”
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives. - Oprah Winfrey — **Leadership** is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the **purpose** of inspiring and **empowering** their lives. – Oprah Winfrey

All advocacy is, at its core, an exercise in empathy. - Samantha Power — All advocacy is, at its core, an exercise in empathy. – Samantha Power

The outward expression of empathy is courtesy. - Stewart Butterfield — The outward expression of empathy is courtesy. – Stewart Butterfield

I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization. - Roger Ebert — I **believe** empathy is the most essential quality of civilization. – Roger Ebert

Compassion, empathy, and love are the real pillars we need to build within ourselves to become human. - Loknath — Compassion, empathy, and love are the real pillars we need to build within ourselves to become human. – Loknath

20 Thought-provoking Quotes About Empathy That Will Make You Think

“Planting the seeds of compassion and respect in classrooms and schools is essential, not only to reduce bullying and other cruel behaviors, but because empathy and kindness are so essential to all human relationships.”
Naomi Drew and Christa Tinari

When a good man is hurt all who would be called good must suffer with him. - Euripides — When a good man is hurt all who would be called good must suffer with him. – **Euripides**

Emotional empathy is what motivates us to help others. - Brian Goldman — Emotional empathy is what motivates us to help others. – Brian Goldman

“The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another’s pain as one’s own, and to act to take that pain away,. There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.”
John Connolly

If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own. - Henry Ford — If there is any one secret of **success**, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own. – **Henry Ford**

If you share in a heart-felt sorrow, you can lighten the load of a friend. Sometimes facing the burden together can mend two broken hearts in the end. - Wes Fessle — If you share in a heart-felt sorrow, you can lighten the load of a **friend**. Sometimes facing the burden together can mend two broken hearts in the end. – Wes Fessle

I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person. - Walt Whitman — I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person. – **Walt Whitman**

“I don’t know whether your heart ever necessarily changes, but time changes the way that you perceive the world. And you just hope it gives you more empathy and all those other things.”
Mark Knopfler

Extend sympathy, empathy and compassion to others. - Vishnu — Extend **sympathy**, empathy and compassion to others. – Vishnu

Human morality is unthinkable without empathy. - Frans de Waal — Human morality is unthinkable without empathy. – Frans de Waal

One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider a problem, can change our whole outlook on the world. - E. H. Mayoli — One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider a problem, can change our whole outlook on the world. – E. H. Mayoli

“Learning a foreign language, and the culture that goes with it, is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the empathy and imaginative sympathy and cultural outlook of children.”
Michael Gove