Quotes about Empathy Training

Barack Obama

Learning to stand in somebody else's shoes, to see through their eyes, that's how peace begins. And it's up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.

Jonathan Groff

The idea of faking empathy to take a step forward to understanding - it's a really powerful idea.

Glenn Beck

When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh shut up' I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining.

Paul Bloom

I think we should really discourage this sort of empathic engagement when it comes to making moral decisions. I think we should focus on something like compassion, on getting people to care more for others without putting ourselves in their shoes.

Stephen Covey

To listen with empathy is the most important human skill.

Helen Keller

I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days during their early adult life. Darkness would make them more appreciative of sight; silence would teach them the joys of sound.

W. H. Auden

It is, for example, axiomatic that we should all think of ourselves as being more sensitive than other people because, when we are insensitive in our dealings with others, we cannot be aware of it at the time: conscious insensitivity is a self-contradiction.

Edgar Guest

There is an education of the mind
Which all require and parents only start.
But there is training of a nobler kind
And that's the education of the heart.
Lessons that are most difficult to give
Are Faith and Courage and the way to live.

Dalai Lama

Looking at various means of developing compassion, I think empathy is an important factor: the ability to appreciate others' suffering.

Dalai Lama

Each of us in our own way can try to spread compassion into people's hearts. Western civilizations these days place great importance on filling the human brain with knowledge, but no one seems to care about filling the human heart with compassion. This is what the real role of religion is.

Sam Harris

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.

Paul Bloom

For the most part, people use "empathy" to mean everything good. For instance, many medical schools have courses in empathy. But if you look at what they mean, they just want medical students to be nicer to their patients, to listen to them, to respect them, to understand them. What's not to like? If they were really teaching empathy, then I'd say there is a world of problems there.

Jon Richardson

I don't mean to hate people, I just get forced into it.

Jane Addams

Much of the insensibility and hardness of the world is due to the lack of imagination which prevents a realization of the experiences of other people.

Carl Rogers

Over the years, however, the research evidence keeps piling up, and it points strongly to the conclusion that a high degree of empathy in a relationship is possibly the most potent and certainly one of the most potent factors in bringing about change and learning.

Deepak Chopra

There is a need for everyone's brain to be imprinted with more self-enhancing impulses: the impulse to peace over violence, love over fear, compassion over selfishness.

Arundhati Roy

Empathy may be the single most important quality that must be nurtured to give peace a fighting chance.

Marianne Williamson

As far as nonviolence and Spiritual Activism, Marshall Rosenberg is it! Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, is essential reading for anyone who wants to improve their communication skills. Applying the concepts within the book will help guide the reader towards a more loving, compassionate, and nonviolent way of understanding and functioning with others, and foster more compassion in the world. I highly recommend this book.