Quotes about Empathy

Love breaks the hold of individualism; it builds new communities out of the ashes of broken and fragmented relationships.

People familiar with shame are willing to wash feet, but they are uncomfortable with other people washing their feet. They are better at serving than being served. Well, get used to being served.

All it takes is a tradition of demeaning, critical words from the right person. All it takes is nothing from the right person. No interest in you, no words spoken to you, no love. If you are treated as if you do not exist, you will feel shame.

He says "I love you" first, even when we respond with an indifferent shrug or the equivalent of a passing, "Oh, thanks." And in this we discover why it might be hard for us to move toward others: the one taking the initiative in the relationship—the one who loves most—is the one who risks humiliation.

The visitor (what Scripture calls the "foreigner" or "alien") comes first. The visitor who returns comes next. The less popular, the introverts, the marginalized, or those sitting alone come next. Then come the children. Jesus singles them out as examples of the marginalized. "Hi, _______" is offered to as many people as possible, which doesn't have to be accompanied by a hug or a handshake.

Knowing and being known—by design we enjoy human connections, and those connections are forged over time through normal interactions and questions that gradually ask for more. Such connections are the foundations for mutual help, and they are helpful in themselves since they are expressions of love.

Side by side is most suitable for helping.

Love is able to see past the clutter of a disorganized life.

Anger takes everything personally, as if everything is an intentional act to make your life miserable.

When the only one who has a right to be angry chooses love and service, when He considers the interests of others more important than His own and chooses humility—He changes everything (p. 55).

What is the way out of shame? It is the way of humility, not humiliation. It is the way of being known, not exposed.

In our attempts to help, we can overinterpret suffering.