35 Compassion Quotes — Opening Your Heart to Others and Yourself

The Neuroscience of Compassion

Dr. Tania Singer at the Max Planck Institute used fMRI to show that compassion training (as distinct from empathy) activates the brain's reward centers and increases positive emotion, while pure empathy without compassion can lead to burnout. Dr. Richard Davidson's research shows that compassion meditation increases activity in brain regions associated with positive affect and reduces stress-related inflammation markers. A study published in Psychological Science (2013) found that just two weeks of compassion training increased prosocial behavior measurably.

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

"Compassion is the basis of morality."

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures."

"The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others."

"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."

"Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals."

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."

"Every act of compassion makes the world a little less cold and a little more home."

"There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up."

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

"When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed."

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear."

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

"One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone."

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space."

"Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves."

"I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay."

"Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things."

"No one has ever become poor by giving."

"The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer."

Cultivating Compassion

• Loving-kindness meditation: 10 minutes daily of sending well-wishes increases compassion measurably in 2 weeks
• Compassion for yourself first: You cannot pour from an empty cup
• Practice empathic listening: Hear others without fixing, judging, or advising
• Remember common humanity: Everyone suffers; everyone deserves compassion