Quotes about Compassion! 150+ Inspiring Quotes on Compassion
Quotes About Compassion
“Compassion is the basis of all morality.” —Arthur Schopenhauer
“Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” —Henry Ward Beecher
“Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.” —William Makepeace Thackeray
“You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.” —Publilius Syrus
“Extend yourself in kindness to other human being wherever you can.” —Oprah Winfrey
“The wonderful thing is that it’s so incredibly easy to be kind.” —Ingrid Newkirk
“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” —John Green
“Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.” —Confucius
“Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves.” —Mason Cooley
“Compassion is a foundation for sharing our aliveness and building a more humane world.” —Martin Lowenthal
“Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others.” —Helen Keller
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” —Lao Tzu
“I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.” —Pablo Casals
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” —Mother Teresa
“It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers.” —Thomas Merton
“You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion.” —Meister Eckhart
“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Kindness is not about instant gratification. More often, it’s akin to a low-risk investment that appreciates steadily over time.” —Josh Radnor
“There’s no such things as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” —Scott Adams
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
“No matter who we are, no matter how successful, no matter what our situation, compassion is something we all need to receive and give.” —Catherine Pulsifer
“The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter.” —Norman Cousins
“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” —Thomas Merton
“If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” —William Penn
Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” —Pema Chödrön
“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.” —Og Mandino
Inspirational Quotes On Compassion
“Compassion is passion with a heart.” —Anonymous
“Compassion is so often the solution.” —Anonymous
“Compassion is a verb.” —Thich Nhat Hanh
“Compassion is an action word with no boundaries.” —Prince
“Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.” —Pema Chodron
“Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” —Anonymous
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” —Anonymous
“Serve and show compassion and the will to help others.” —Albert Schweitzer
“Great teachers emanate out of knowledge, passion, and compassion.” —A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
“Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.” —Thomas Merton
“May your daily choices be a reflection of your deepest values.” —Coleen Patrick-Goudreau
“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” —Steve Maraboli
“Instead of putting others in their place, put yourself in their place.” —Amish Proverb
“There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.” —John Connolly
“Compassion is to look beyond your own pain, to see the pain of others.” —Yasmin Mogahed
“Look for a way to lift someone up. And if that’s all you do, that’s enough.” —Elizabeth Lesser
“There never was any heart truly great and generous, which was not also tender and compassionate.” —Robert Frost
“Let our hearts be stretched out in compassion toward others, for everyone is walking his or her own difficult path.” —Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” —Albert Einstein
Famous Quotes about Compassion
“True love is born from understanding.” —Gautama Buddha
“One love, one heart, one destiny.” —Bob Marley
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” —Gautama Buddha
“We have to make mistakes, it’s how we learn compassion for others.” —Curtis Sittenfeld, American Wife
“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.” —Mary Anne Radmacher
“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” —Lao Tzu
“True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also being moved to help relieve it.” —Daniel Goleman
“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” —Albert Schweitzer
“I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.” —Mother Teresa
“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.” —Tahereh Mafi
“God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, which we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.” —Desmond Tutu
“It is only with true love and compassion that we can begin to mend what is broken in the world. It is these two blessed things that can begin to heal all broken hearts.” —Steve Maraboli
“For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one’s own pain weighs as heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.” —Milan Kundera
“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
“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.” —Henri J.M. Nouwen
“Hurt people hurt people. We are not being judgmental by separating ourselves from such people. But we should do so with compassion. Compassion is defined as a “keen awareness of the suffering of another coupled with a desire to see it relieved.”
Quotes about Compassion and Love
“Even suffering when wrapped in love, seems tolerable.” —Bangambiki Habyarimana
“Until you have real compassion, you cannot recognize love.” —Bob Thurman
“Compassion is about giving all the love that you’ve got.” —Cheryl Strayed
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” —Dalai Lama
“Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer.” —Rachael Joy Scott
“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” —John Holmes
“Love and compassion are the true religions to me. But to develop this, we do not need to believe in any religion.” —Dalai Lama
“We can’t heal the world today but we can begin with a voice of compassion, a heart of love, an act of kindness.” —Mary Davis
“I love this life and even if to be taken from me, I will love that you have yours. Cherish all life, for life, is worth cherishing.” —Tom Althouse
“Compassion is at the heart of every little thing we do. It is the dearest quality we possess. Yet all too often it can be cast aside with consequences too tragic to speak of. To lose our compassion, we lose what it is to be human.” —Anonymous
Quotes about Compassion for Animals
“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” —Martin Buber
“The love for all living creatures is the noblest attribute of man.” —Charles Darwin
“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” —Immanuel Kant
“Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawaken.” —Anatole France
“It is much easier to show compassion to animals. They are never wicked.” —Haile Selassie
“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.” —George Eliot
“When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.” —Gautama Buddha
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“It is a man’s sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man.” —Albert Schweitzer
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” —Dalai Lama
“If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.” —Albert Einstein
“Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.” —Milan Kundera
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” —George Bernard Shaw
“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” —Albert Einstein
“Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to.” —Alfred Armand Montapert
“Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.” —Arthur Schopenhauer
“A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.” —Albert Schweitzer
“Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.” —Albert Schweitzer
“Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures.” —Dalai Lama
“Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission – to be of service to them whenever they require it.” —Francis of Assisi
“The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and second because it results in an incalculably great impoverishment of the human spirit.” —Albert Einstein
“When man learns to respect even the smallest being of creation…nobody has to teach him to love his fellow man. Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.” —Albert Schweitzer
“The animals you eat are not those who devour others; you do not eat the carnivorous beasts, you take them as your pattern. You only hunger for the sweet and gentle creatures which harm no one, which follow you, serve you, and are devoured by you as the reward of their service.” —Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.” —Albert Schweitzer
Quotes About Compassion and Kindness
“Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.” —Charles Glassman
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” —Plato
“A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward.” —William John Bennett
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” —Bob Kerrey
“Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.” —Jackie Chan
“Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.” —Anonymous
Next, we have quotes and sayings about love and compassion. For many self-help experts, the combination of these two is what sustains humanity.
“Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.” —Dalai Lama
“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” —Princess Diana
“That is what compassion does. It challenges our assumptions, our sense of self-limitation, worthlessness, of not having a place in the world. As we develop compassion, our hearts open.” —Sharon Salzberg
“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
Just like empathy, people sometimes confuse kindness with compassion. But again, they are two different things. If compassion is a strong desire you feel regarding other people feelings, then kindness is the act that you do to help them get through hard times.
Self-Compassion Quotes
“For us to feel good emotionally, we have to look after ourselves.” —Sam Owen
“Don’t change your self-criticism habit. Change your habitual reactions to self-criticism.” —Yong Kang Chan
“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” —Jack Kornfield
“Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves.” —Pema Chodron
“When we give ourselves compassion, we are opening our hearts in a way that can transform our lives.” —Kristin Neff
“Drop the people who do not value you, respect you. Life has infinite horizons. Accept yourself, love yourself, and move forward.” —Amit Ray
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” —Maya Angelou
“Taking time to relax every day, spending quality time with friends, and practicing mindfulness are some of the tried and tested ways of developing self-compassion.” —Dr. Prem Jagyasi
“One thing is for sure—you will make mistakes. Learn to learn from them. Learn to forgive yourself. Learn to laugh when everything falls apart because, sometimes, it will.” —Vironika Tugaleva
“And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things.” —Martin Scorsese
“It is a lack of love for ourselves that inhibits our compassion toward others. If we make friends with ourselves, then there is no obstacle to opening our hearts and minds to others.” —Anonymous
Quotes About Compassion and Empathy
“The highest form of knowledge is empathy.” —Bill Bullard
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” —Ernest Hemingway
“Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering.” —Dalai Lama
“Empathy is a connection; it’s a ladder out of the shame hole.” —Brené Brown
“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” —Dalai Lama
“Give Compassion: Every day the average person fights epic battles never told just to survive.” —Ken Poirot
“In compassion, when we feel with the other, we dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and we put another person there.” —Karen Armstrong
“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
“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
Dalai Lama Compassion Quotes
“Compassion is the radicalism of our time.” —Dalai Lama
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” —Dalai Lama
“It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act.” —Dalai Lama
“Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering.” —Dalai Lama
“One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion.” —Dalai Lama
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” —Dalai Lama
“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” —Dalai Lama
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” —Dalai LamaXIV
“Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.” —Dalai Lama XIV
“Love and compassion are the true religions to me. But to develop this, we do not need to believe in any religion.” —Dalai Lama
“Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.” —Dalai Lama
“It is important not to allow ourselves to be put off by the magnitude of others’ suffering. The misery of millions is not a cause for pity. Rather it is a cause for compassion.” —Dalai Lama
Compassion Quotes and Sayings
“Compassion takes imagination.” —Jennifer Beals
“A great nation is a compassionate nation.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” —Francis Schaeffer
“How can you expect a man who’s warm to understand one who’s cold?” —Alexander Solzhenitsyn
“Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.”
“If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”
“The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” —Robert Baden-Powell
“We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love.” —Jane Goodall
“True benevolence, or compassion, extends itself through the whole of existence and sympathizes with the distress of every creature capable of sensation.”
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.”
“We must never minimize the suffering of another. Scripture’s mandate to us is, Weep with them that weep. (Romans 12:15, KJV).” —Billy Graham
“While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.”
“Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.”
“Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person.” —Fritz William
“Compassion will no longer be seen as a spiritual luxury for a contemplative few; rather it will be viewed as a social necessity for the entire human family.” —Duane Elgin
“We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.” —Thomas Merton
“The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.” —Tenzin Gyatso
“It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” —Charles H. Spurgeon
“Compassion has no place in the natural order of the world which operates on the basis of necessity. Compassion opposes this order and is therefore best thought of as being in some way supernatural.” —John Berger
“People may excite in themselves a glow of compassion, not by toasting their feet at the fire, and saying: Lord, teach me compassion, but by going and seeking an object that requires compassion.” —Henry Ward Beecher
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, and to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.” —Max Lucado
“Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.” —Frederick Buechner