quotations about compassion
He that relieves another upon the bare suggestion and bowels of pity, doth not this so much for his sake as for his own; for by compassion we make others' misery our own; and so by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also.
SIR THOMAS BROWN
Religio Medici
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
There never was any heart truly great and generous that was not also tender and compassionate. It is this noble quality that makes all men to be of one kind; for every man would be (as it were) a distinct species to himself, were there no sympathy among individuals.
ROBERT SOUTH
Twelve Sermons
Boundless compassion for all living beings is the surest and most certain guarantee of pure moral conduct.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
On the Basis of Morality
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 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
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