Quotes about Compassion

        what is my purpose in life, what is my responsibility?
        whether I like it or not, I am on this planet
        and it is far better to do something for humanity.

        so you see that compassion is the seed or basis.

       If we take care to foster compassion,
       we will see that it brings the other good human qualities.

       the topic of compassion is not at all religious business;
       it is very important to know that it is human business
       that it is a question of human survival
       that is not a question of human luxury....

       It is clear that even without religion we can manage.

       However, without these basic human qualities we cannot survive.
       It is a question of our own peace and mental stability.

  

see also the dalai lama

If we all go by "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" the entire world would be blind and toothless. But if we practice compassion and mercy; then true harmony can be found.

I once heard a story about a visit to heaven and hell. In both places the visitor saw many people seated at a table on which many delicious foods were laid out. In both places chopsticks over a meter long were tied to their right hands, while their left hands were tied to their chairs.

In hell, however much they stretched out their arms, the chopsticks were too long for them to get food into their mouths. They grew impatient and got their hands and chopsticks tangled with one another's. The delicacies were scattered here and there.

In heaven, on the other hand, people happily used the long chopsticks to pick out someone else's favorite food and feed it to him, and in turn they were being fed by others. They all enjoyed their meal in harmony.

Self-nurturing means, above all, making a commitment to self-compassion, to the creation of a loving and positive attitude toward yourself.

Don't expect others to treat you better than they treat themselves.  If you choose to deal with them (or must), it is best to come from a place of compassion toward their ignorance and lack of love.  Be solid enough to deal with it or step back to work on yourself first.   ~Danielle Marie Crume

without suffering there would be no compassion

"Sometimes the completely open heart and mind of bhodichitta is called the soft spot, a place as vulnerable and tender as an open wound. It is equated, in part, with our ability to love. [...]

Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment, and blame. But under the hardness of that armor there is the tenderness of genuine sadness. This is our link with all those who have ever loved. This genuine heart of sadness can teach us great compassion. It can humble us when we're arrogant and soften us when we are unkind. It awakens us when we prefer to sleep and pierces through our indifference. This continual ache of the heart is a blessing that when accepted fully can be shared with all."

Passion begins with a burden and a split-second moment, when you understand something like never before. That burden is on those who know. Those who don't know are at peace. Those of us who do know get disturbed and are forced to take action.

The answer is more love, not less.

BE what you wish to see reflected in the world. 
Love is made by being love. Peace is found only in being peace. 
See others as children. See how our collective being impacts them. 
What do you create? Love, Compassion, and Peace? Or Fear, War, and Hate?

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

"If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature. Yet many ministers are exhausted from playing God. We have worn ourselves out trying to be spiritual policemen. Sometimes we’ve done it through ignorance; other times, for fear of being ridiculed by our peers for having problems in the sheepfold. It is enough to be responsible for ensuring that our people have the opportunity to graze in the rich grass of God’s nutritious word. Beyond that, we must trust the word to take it’s effect. It will work faster in some people than in others. the spiritual body grows and metabolizes food at different rates much like the natural body does" [ Bishop T.D Jakes]"If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature. Yet many ministers are exhausted from playing God. We have worn ourselves out trying to be spiritual policemen. Sometimes we’ve done it through ignorance; other times, for fear of being ridiculed by our peers for having problems in the sheepfold. It is enough to be responsible for ensuring that our people have the opportunity to graze in the rich grass of God’s nutritious word. Beyond that, we must trust the word to take it’s effect. It will work faster in some people than in others. the spiritual body grows and metabolizes food at different rates much like the natural body does" [ Bishop T.D Jakes]"If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature. Yet many ministers are exhausted from playing God. We have worn ourselves out trying to be spiritual policemen. Sometimes we’ve done it through ignorance; other times, for fear of being ridiculed by our peers for having problems in the sheepfold. It is enough to be responsible for ensuring that our people have the opportunity to graze in the rich grass of God’s nutritious word. Beyond that, we must trust the word to take it’s effect. It will work faster in some people than in others. the spiritual body grows and metabolizes food at different rates much like the natural body does" [ Bishop T.D Jakes]

Be kind to your shadow. ~Rebecca Lawless

We never really realise how important help it is to helping others, to extend a little bit of ourselves.

I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.

How to make our lives an embodiment of wisdom and compassion is the greatest challenge spiritual seekers face. The truths we have come to understand need to find their visible expression in our lives. Our every thought, word, or action holds the possibility of being a living expression of clarity and love. It is not enough to be a possessor of wisdom. To believe ourselves to be custodians of truth is to become its opposite, is a direct path to becoming stale, self-righteous, or rigid. Ideas and memories do not hold liberating or healing power. There is no such state as enlightened retirement, where we can live on the bounty of past attainments. Wisdom is alive only as long as it is lived, understanding is liberating only as long as it is applied. A bulging portfolio of spiritual experiences matters little if it does not have the power to sustain us through the inevitable moments of grief, loss, and change. Knowledge and achievements matter little if we do not yet know how to touch the heart of another and be touched.

Imagine being invited to a banquet where you bring your own meal-
and you brought a steak ,baked potatoes and asparagus with Boston cream pie for desert.  

Joining you at that table were a sampling of the human diversity from your community.  
Across from you  at this table was a mother with children who had nothing to bring-
how much would you enjoy your meal without sharing it? 
 
Marianne Goldweber
Spiritualist-Minister

Love is the highest form of intelligence, and we share this unsurpassed gift with many other species.

This is how I find compassion
I stand between a tree and the sun
I remain until I can find the luminescence in aspen bark.
I continue because I seek the core of truth in every being.

This is how I find grace:
I surrender to water.
I surrender to the rock.
I obseve sensations on the surface of my skin.

This is how I practice gratitude:
I peel a tangerine.
I give away all it's quarter moon sections,
Allowing the fruit of  service to introduce me to strangers.

With open palms,
I walk into the fire of life.
The soul needs no shelter from the sun.
I remember that everything is a part of me.

In my world
I seek the divinity of all things.
Finding an eagle  feather on the corner of mystery,
I pick it up, holding it between my body and the sun.
                                                                                             Celeste Labadie 2003

Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival

Whenever your are in danger, whether in war, forest,ocean or jungle, remember Me. I shall save you. You may not know me. You may not realize who I am. Just pray to me with a little touch of your heart, and I shall free you from gripping sorrows and miseries. I willingly reveal myself to you. Therefore, you are in a position to reach me, or else, it is impossible. No power on heaven or earth can damage the devotees who take shelter under me. For there is none greater than me to punish you. I can do whatever I like. It is only your lack of trust, your non-belief, that keeps your desires unfulfilled. For those who with love and devotion surrender to me, if they are in trouble, my heart melts. This is my compassion. And with my compassion, my power flows out to them, freeing them from miseries and unhappiness.

I am Eternal. I am Deathless. I AM.

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty".
“Albert Einstein”

"You'll catch more bees with honey than you will with vinegar!"

Successful leaders lead with the heart, not just the head. They possess qualities like empathy, compassion and courage. They also have the ability to establish deep, long-term and genuine relationships where others trust them.

"My philosophy is that life is all about learning and growing, and that life can be a real adventure of learning, growing, compassion, and joyfulness." 
                              

"Regarding God/Spirit/Source, whatever one calles it, I feel I have all the answers. I just don't apply them as I should and that's where I work. I try to remain uninvolved in others' sacred space, but "live it through service, compassion and Love." 

~Michele Kim
aka Sacred Activist

Beggers provide the luxury.  They allow me to be generous.  They make me feel rich.

We do not know what awaits each of us after death, but we know that we will die. Clearly, it must be possible to live ethically--with a genuine concern for the happiness of other sentient beings--without presuming to know things about which we are patently ignorant. Consider it: every person you have ever met, every person you will pass in the street today, is going to die. Living long enough, each will suffer the loss of his friends and family. All are going to lose everything they love in this world. Why would one want to be anything but kind to them in the meantime?

Look after everybody
So that they are happy to see you.
It is better to serve the devotee of god
than to serve god himself.

Through the wisdom of letting be, we learn that we don't have to react to the shifting contents of our experiences but can 'lean into' their unchanging essence of knowing emptiness. We can let be and find deep rest right there.... Wise compassion keeps our mind on realities that transcend self-centeredness, so our best intentions can be realized instead of being overwhelmed by emotional reactions to fallible people or disappointing outcomes.