Jacqueline Novogratz Quotes

A novel can grant humanity even to those who act inhumanely, and by making men and women of monsters, it can offer not only a ground-level view of a particular conflict, but a descent into the substratum of human nature capable of the incomprehensible.

Most of us are consumed with our own thoughts and desires and are not always thinking about what other people may want. This is not necessarily being egocentric; it is just being human.

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.

Scenery is fine - but human nature is finer.

We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

Artists instinctively want to reflect humanity, their own and each other's, in all its intermittent virtue and vitality, frailty and fallibility.

I always think you have to show a degree of humanity and sensitivity when you're dealing with people in extreme circumstances.

And we call ourselves the human race.

I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.

I'm constantly surprised by human nature and humanity. And I think that's why I love what I do: because I love to story-tell and bring new characters to life.

I try to show ugliness, but with compassion for the people who commit ugly acts.

Our dream is to one day uncover the essence of what makes us human.

It's so nice to see that one's opinion of humanity is accurately gauged.

'Ida' is about humanity, about guilt and forgiveness. It's not a film that deals with an issue as such. It's more universal.

She is Living and I'm Dead, but I'd like to believe we're both human. Call me an idealist.

Even the most sadistic and destructive man is human, as human as the saint.

In our inherent contradictions as humans, and in order to validate our own pain, we deny the pain of others. But it is in acknowledging the pain of others that we achieve fully our humanity.

...the ultimate dwindling resource in the human arrangement isn’t cheap oil or potable water or even common sense, but mercy.

Humanity is actually much more cooperative and empathic than [it's] given credit for.

A little more patience, a little more charity for all, a little more devotion, a little more love; with less bowing down to the past, and a silent ignoring of pretended authority; brave looking forward to the future with more faith in our fellows, and the race will be ripe for a great burst of light and life.

I thought, "Why? and how did we evolve with this weak, and useless passion in tact within the deep heart's core?" And the answer as I've formulated it to myself is that empathy is the engine that powers all the best in us.

The necessities of our condition require a thousand offices of tenderness, which mere regard for the species will never dictate.

If you ask anyone, what is morality based on? These are the two factors that always come out: One is reciprocity, … a sense of fairness, and the other one is empathy and compassion.

I think the essence of [Kurt] Vonnegut's humanism lay in his emphasis on human kindness as, so to speak, our saving grace.