Compassion

Compassion is a mind that savors only mercy and love for all sentient beings.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

As long as space remains, As long as sentient beings remain, Until then, May I too remain And help dispel the miseries of the world.

“Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one [a Samaritan] who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go, and do likewise.”

Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

It is the task of all human beings with an aspiration to spiritual perfection … to affirm the fundamental value of compassion…

And what is tenderness? It is the love that comes close and becomes real. It is a movement that starts from our heart and reaches the eyes, the ears and the hands.

If it is not tempered by compassion, and empathy, reason can lead men and women into a moral void…

To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all living beings with the eyes of compassion.

All you need to have self-compassion is to be a flawed human being like everyone else. It’s a constant source of support and refuge.

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

Compassion is not a virtue—it’s a commitment.

I consider nonviolence to be compassion in action.

Compassion is not just feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation.

When the commitment to justice comes together and coalesces with the spirit of love, what results is conscientious compassion…

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

Respect all people as holy people, each one the sacred body of God.

You can only serve God as you serve other people, and you don’t feel the pulse of people unless you also feel the pulse of God, because you know that they are divine brothers and sisters to you.

Resilience is based on compassion for ourselves as well as compassion for others.

If only we can overcome cruelty, to human and animal, with love and compassion we shall stand at the threshold of a new era in human moral and spiritual evolution—and realize, at last, our most unique quality: humanity.