Here are 81 of the best compassion quotes I could find. The goal? To make us, and the world, better and more caring. You’ll discover quotes by Einstein, Mother Teresa, Dalai Lama, and more. Enjoy!
A compassionate person sees himself or herself in every being. Thich Nhat Hanh Click to tweet
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. Albert Pike Click to tweet
Being good to people is better than preaching a sermon. Being kind and compassionate speaks louder than words. Joel Osteen Click to tweet
Compassion comes naturally when you lose your overinflated sense of self-importance. James Pierce Click to tweet
Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things. Thomas Merton Click to tweet
--- Advertisement ---
Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love. Unknown Click to tweet
Those who are truly strong can afford to show compassion. Patrik Baboumian Click to tweet
Anger and hatred are signs of weakness, while compassion is a sure sign of strength. 14th Dalai Lama Click to tweet
Compassion. It’s not just a word. It’s a way of being. It’s not just a concept. It’s love in action. Jeff Brown Click to tweet
Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves. Pema Chödrön Click to tweet
--- Advertisement ---
When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as though they were his own, he or she has attained the highest spiritual union. Lord Krishna Click to tweet
Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others. Booker T. Washington Click to tweet
When I understand myself, I understand you, and out of that understanding comes love. Jiddu Krishnamurti comes love. Jiddu Krishnamurti+http://bit.ly/BestCompassionQuotes” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener”>Click to tweet
Wise people don’t feel diminished while listening to others. Maxime Lagacé Click to tweet
If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. Buddha Click to tweet
Related quotes and topics: generosity, kindness, helping others
A few thoughts on compassion…
There’s a better way.
A better way to communicate, to make people feel better, to make people feel recognized and respected for who they are.
People all over the world are waiting to be seen and accepted.
But since most of us are caught up in competition, jealousy and ego-building activities, we forget others in the process.
And I’m guilty of that too.
The worst part?
We end up feeling lonely, separated and disconnected from others.
BUT,
with compassion, we can change our relationships, one conversation at a time.
By listening and truly caring for others, we can improve people’s lives and our own.
See also: Compassionate Mind, Healthy Body (greatergood.berkeley.edu)
Go to table of contents
We only have what we give. Isabel Allende Click to tweet
Being nice counts the most when you are nice to people ignored by others. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Everybody sees things their way. Nobody wants to see things through the eyes of others. Shane Parrish
If we human beings help each other, serve each other, with compassion, we’ll be happy. 14th Dalai Lama
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Compassion is the ultimate expression of your highest self. Russell Simmons Click to tweet
Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion between supposed lovers, between supposed brothers. Unknown
A king without compassion does not deserve a kingdom. No matter how many weapons you may have, no matter how great your technology might be, the world cannot live without love. Sheeta (Castle in the Sky)
Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors. Andrew Boyd
The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another’s pain as one’s own, and to act to take that pain away. There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness. John Connolly
--- Advertisement ---
There’s no place where deep listening and loving speech are inappropriate. Thich Nhat Hanh Click to tweet
Gentleness is powerful. When we use gentle and loving speech, we are able to transform anger, fear, resentment and suspicion in our communication. The whole intention of loving speech is to understand the other person and to be understood. Thich Nhat Hanh
When we can free ourselves from the idea of separateness, we have compassion, we have understanding, and we have the energy we need to help. Thich Nhat Hanh
True love is possible only with understanding. When there is understanding, compassion is born. Thich Nhat Hanh
When someone is caught up in the whirlpool of their own mind, you can only feel compassion for them, not anger. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Compassion recognizes the suffering of another as a reflection of our own pain. Compassion is shared suffering. Jack Kornfield Click to tweet
Compassion arises when you recognize that all are suffering from the same sickness of the mind, some more acutely than others. Eckhart Tolle
You didn’t choose how you looked; yet we keep judging others as if they chose and are how they look. Alain de Botton
As a human being, I am committed to the promotion of what I call basic human values, by which I mean especially compassion. 14th Dalai Lama
Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness. 14th Dalai Lama
If we are not tolerant and loving with others, who will be with ourselves? Maxime Lagacé Click to tweet
They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense-craving tormenting the heart. Bhagavad Gita
Every one of us has the capacity to love, to forgive, to understand, and to be compassionate. Thich Nhat Hanh
A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good he has done to his fellowmen. Mahatma Gandhi
Compassion, as love, is something which is not of the mind. Jiddu Krishnamurti
More related quotes and topics: humanity, humility, Zen
Go to table of contents
The fruit of love is service, which is compassion in action. Mother Teresa Click to tweet
No one has ever become poor by giving. Anne Frank
Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty. Albert Einstein
We must be very compassionate with ourselves, and each time just center again, quiet again and begin again. Ram Dass
True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. Martin Luther King Jr
The soul is composed of love, compassion, wisdom, peace, and joy. Those are all in us. Ram Dass Click to tweet
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. Maya Angelou
Compassion is the radicalism of our time. 14th Dalai Lama
The topic of compassion is not at all religious business; it is important to know that it is human business. 14th Dalai Lama
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. 14th Dalai Lama
--- Advertisement ---
Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. Pema Chödrön Click to tweet
Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Pema Chödrön
Why do we need compassion? Experience tells us that it brings inner strength. It also benefits others and we face many unnecessary problems when we lack it. To understand this we must develop a holistic way of seeing the bigger picture, which means we must use our intelligence. 14th Dalai Lama
Change starts with us as individuals. If one individual becomes more compassionate it will influence others and so we will change the world. 14th Dalai Lama
We have a basic instinct for compassion, but we need to develop it. Concern for others is related to human rights and everyone needs to be assured of their human rights because everyone wants and has a right to be happy. 14th Dalai Lama
Tolerance and compassion are qualities of fearless people. Paulo Coelho Click to tweet
No matter how dark the times we must face reality and quietly work for the common good and collective evolution with love and compassion. Deepak Chopra
Compassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers. Susan Sontag
Compassion is an action word with no boundaries. Prince
Compassion is the basis of morality. Arthur Schopenhauer
Want more famous quotes? Please check out The Most Famous Quotes of All Time (From History)
Go to table of contents
Create meaning by caring for others. Maxime Lagacé Click to tweet
The best way to be successful is to make others successful. Shane Parrish
More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate. Roy T. Bennett
It is compassion, the most gracious of virtues, which moves the world. Unknown
Compassion is the highest form of intelligence. Unknown
Kindness and compassion towards all living beings is a mark of a civilized society. Cesar Chavez Click to tweet
True benevolence or compassion, extends itself through the whole of existence and sympathizes with the distress of every creature capable of sensation. Joseph Addison
The practice of compassion and altruism brings us peace of mind. Even if we face trouble or someone is critical of something we’ve said or done, compassion enables us to feel grateful to them. Compassion is the best countermeasure to anger, anxiety and so forth. 14th Dalai Lama
Compassion is the basis of our survival, not just a religious matter. Our very life depends on the affection of others, so it’s in our interest to take their concerns into account. We must think more about inner values and cultivate compassion in our own lives. 14th Dalai Lama
Be like a flower that gives its fragrance even to the hand that crushed it. Ali ibn Abi Talib Click to tweet
--- Advertisement ---
If it’s about logic, numbers and competition, we are screwed. If it’s about emotion, love and collaboration, we have a chance. Maxime Lagacé
Compassion reduces our fear, boosts our confidence, and opens us to inner strength. By reducing distrust, it opens us to others and brings us a sense of connections with them and a sense of purpose and meaning in life. 14th Dalai Lama
I regard a compassionate, warm, kindhearted person as healthy. If you maintain a feeling of compassion, loving kindness, something automatically opens your inner door, through which you can communicate much more easily with other people — you’ll find that they are just like you. 14th Dalai Lama
Compassion is action without motive, without self-interest, without any sense of fear, without any sense of pleasure. Jiddu Krishnamurti Click to tweet
With looking deeply and the practice of compassionate dialogue, we can transform misperceptions and anger into understanding and love, just as a gardener can transform compost to grow beautiful flowers and vegetables. Thich Nhat Hanh
My view of human nature is that all of us are just holding it together in various ways — and that’s okay, and we just need to go easy with one another, knowing that we’re all these incredibly fragile beings. Alain de Botton
Count your life not in years but by the number of breaths you take. Slow down, breathe, smile, be gentle, kind, joyful and compassionate. You will add years to your life and life to your years. Deepak Chopra
May love fill your heart, compassion guides your mind, faith rules your soul. Paulo Coelho Click to tweet
Gratitude eliminates fear, worry, grief, and depression, and brings happiness, kindness, compassion, understanding, and peace of mind. Rhonda Byrne
Ego builds walls, compassion bridges. Maxime Lagacé
God damn it, you’ve got to be kind. Kurt Vonnegut
Want more inspiring quotes? Please check out The Best Inner Peace Quotes That Will Calm Your Mind
See also: Top 10 Scientific Benefits of Compassion (charterforcompassion.org)
Go to table of contents
We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. We know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance. Steven Erikson
Make the vow to live every hour of the day deeply, with compassion. Thich Nhat Hanh Click to tweet
Call to action: Read How to Be More Compassionate: A Mindful Guide to Compassion (mindful.org) or watch Self Compassion (5-minute YouTube video by The School of Life)
Hope you enjoyed these beautiful compassion quotes. And please don’t forget: a loving world starts with loving people. It starts with you and how you treat others. Now, if you did enjoy the quotes, please share them with a friend today!
--- Advertisement ---
