Quotes About the Power of Empathy

October 31, 2021

Quotes About the Power of Empathy

Note: Please feel free to use the quote graphics below by right-clicking the graphic and saving or copying the image. These quotes have been foraged for from across the internet and a lifetime of reading, listening, and learning. I make no claim to the authenticity of any of the quotes. I simply know that these quotes spoke to me when I discovered them. I share them with you to pass along the moments of reflection and resonation I felt and found.

"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

“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

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato

"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.’” - Brené Brown

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

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

"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

"In my view, the best of humanity is in our exercise of empathy and compassion. It's when we challenge ourselves to walk in the shoes of someone whose pain or plight might seem so different than yours that it's almost incomprehensible.” - Sarah McBride

"Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's the impetus for creating change." - Max Carver

“Empathy has the power to bring together people who would otherwise never meet. It has the power to teach us and to reach us in moments of isolation when we think nobody understands.” - Vivek Murthy

"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

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

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” - Mother Teresa

“I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.” – Roger Ebert

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eye for an instant?” – Henry David Thoreau

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”- Simone Weil

“The outward expression of empathy is courtesy.” Stewart Butterfield

“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

“The highest form of knowledge is empathy.” - Bill Bullard

“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

"Empathy is when you are able to understand and care about how someone else is feeling." - Mark and Murray

The DayStarter Quotes I have been sharing during the 2021-2022 school year are all based on a monthly theme that supports our school year's focus on "BrighterTogether. There is great power in working together where Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM!)