Quotes about Empathy

The message sent to one is truly sent to all because everyone is a "one," and they know that if you treat one that way, all it takes is a change of circumstances and you'll treat them that way, too.

Just listen and seek to understand.

To be trusted, it is said, is greater than to be loved. In the long run, I am convinced, to be trusted will be also to be loved.

It is the weak who are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.

To relate effectively with a wife, a husband, children, friends, or working associates, we must learn to listen. And this requires emotional strength. Listening involves patience, openness, and the desire to understand—highly developed qualities of character. It's so much easier to operate from a low emotional level and to give high-level advice.

It's how you treat the one that reveals how you regard the ninety-nine, because everyone is ultimately a one.

I remember both of us becoming tearful on that day, not so much because of the insights, but because of the increased sense of reverence we had for each other. We discovered that even seemingly trivial things often have roots in deep emotional experiences. To deal only with the superficial trivia without seeing the deeper, more tender issues is to trample on the sacred ground of another's heart.

If I make deposits into an Emotional Bank Account with you through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up a reserve. Your trust toward me becomes higher, and I can call upon that trust many times if I need to.

The history of the world teaches that the power of joy in people doesn't come in getting, it always comes in giving, contributing, adding more. The more you give, the more you live. If you're about something better, live for something higher than self.

To not say the unkind or critical thing, particularly when provoked and/or fatigued, is a supreme kind of self-mastery.

Go out with your spouse on a regular basis. Have dinner or do something together you both enjoy. Listen to each other; seek to understand.

But how do you love when you don't love?" "My friend, love is a verb. Love—the feeling—is a fruit of love, the verb. So love her. Serve her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her. Are you willing to do that?