Vivienne Westwood Quotes

We have to teach empathy as we do literacy.

Only when the sense of the pain of others begins does man begin.

I used to believe that hurting would make you more alive to the hurting of others. I used to believe in feeling bad because somebody else did. Now I'm not so sure of either.

I'm very sensitive. I remember, as a kid at school, if someone in the classroom was sad or angry, it could have a great impact on me.

It's not a very nice thing to not have empathy. I would like to have empathy. In the past I haven't been very empathetic with other people.

I know what it's like to feel distraught as I am an incredibly sensitive guy and feel for anything and everyone in pain, particularly my own sister.

Unless a man has pity he is not truly a man. If a man has not wept at the worlds pain he is only half a man, and there will always be pain in the world, knowing this does not mean that a man shall dispair. A good man will seek to take pain out of things. A foolish man will not even notice it, except in himself, and the poor unfortunate evil man will drive pain deeper into things and spread it about wherever he goes.

Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.

More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.

To exult over the miseries of an unhappy creature is inhuman.

I tend to absorb a lot of what other people are feeling.

Positive social emotions like compassion and empathy are generally good for us, and we want to encourage them. But do we know how to most reliably raise children to care about the suffering of other people? I'm not sure we do.

When you are suffering, you become more understanding about yourself, but also about other people's sufferings too. That's the first step to understand somebody is to understand their sufferings. So then love follows.

I'm empathetic to a fault. I really do - embarrassingly enough - tear up when someone squishes a bug in front of me.

There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one - keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.

Well, I think that if you sincerely try to imagine what life is like for another person - not in a mocking way, not in a satirical way, but in a sincere, compassionate way - I don't think that's exploitive.

The stirrings of morality emerge early in childhood. Toddlers spontaneously offer toys and help to others and try to comfort people they see in distress.

Walk a mile in my shoes is good advice. Our children will learn to respect others if they are used to imagining themselves in another's place.

I am a pretty emotional person. Any act of kindness or unkindness moves me. When I see a romantic couple sitting by the beach, it moves me. I don't break down or crack under pressure, but I am just sensitive.

Ever since I was a child, I would start crying seeing anyone in pain.

Homeless people really upset me when I was little. A lot of kids have this reaction, but I would get really worried or sad or concerned or cry.

I want my boys to have an understanding of people's emotions, their insecurities, people's distress, and their hopes and dreams.

The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.

I was very spiritual as a kid. I think I felt and thought about things a lot more deeply than most of the other kids my age. I wanted to help people.

I think that I have a sensitivity toward people, and that is a strength.