Compassionate Quotes - Page 18

• We must begin our practice by walking the narrow path of simplicity, the hinayana path, before we can walk upon the open highway of compassionate action, the mahayana path.

  Chogyam Trungpa

  Practice, Simplicity, Path

  Chogyam Trungpa (2010). “The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Three: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism; The Myth of Freedom; The Heart of the Bud dha; Selected Writings”, p.191, Shambhala Publications

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• I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.

  Leo Rosten

  Inspirational, Life, Happiness

  Leo Rosten (1978). “Passions & Prejudices: Or, Some of My Best Friends are People”

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• If you don't believe in God, it may help to remember this great line of Geneen Roth's: that awareness is learning to keep yourself company. And then learn to be more compassionate company, as if you were somebody you are fond of and wish to encourage. I doubt that you would read a close friend's early efforts and, in his or her presence, roll your eyes and snicker. I doubt that you would pantomime sticking your finger down your throat. I think you might say something along the lines of, 'Good for you. We can work out some of the problems later, but for now, full steam ahead!

  Anne Lamott

  Believe, Eye, Thinking

  Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.31, Anchor

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• Be compassionate," Morrie whispered. And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place." He took a breath, then added his mantra: "Love each other or die.

  Mitch Albom

  Responsibility, Would Be, World

  Mitch Albom (2007). “Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson”, p.163, Broadway Books

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• I love Canada...It is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos.

  Yann Martel

  Country, Intelligent, People

  Yann Martel (2009). “Life of Pi”, p.6, Vintage Canada

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• Christ walked the path every mortal is called to walk so that he would know how to succor and strengthen us in our most difficult times. He knows the deepest and most personal burdens we carry. He knows the most public and poignant pains we bear. He descended below al such grief in order that he might lift us above it. There is no anguish or sorrow or sadness in life that he has not suffered in our behalf and borne away upon his own valiant and compassionate shoulders.

  Jeffrey R. Holland

  Pain, Grief, Sadness

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• Your heart matters most, so be gentler and more patient with yourself, and their hearts matter most, too, so be kinder and more compassionate to others.

  Stephanie Nielson

  Heart, Matter, Patient

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• She's beautiful and graceful, and she is very compassionate and loyal when you aren't responsible for the murder of her family.

  Lauren DeStefano

  Beautiful, Loyal, Murder

  Lauren DeStefano (2011). “Wither”, p.248, Simon and Schuster

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• To suffer is one thing; another thing is living with the photographed images of suffering, which does not necessarily strengthen conscience and the ability to be compassionate. It can also corrupt them. Once one has seen such images, one has started down the road of seeing more - and more. Images transfix. Images anesthetize.

  Susan Sontag

  Suffering, Doe, Ability

  Susan Sontag (2011). “On Photography”, p.21, Macmillan

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• I believe that the most urgent need of parents today is to instill in our children a moral vision: what does it mean to be a good person, an excellent neighbor, a compassionate heart? What does it mean to say that God exits, that He loves us and He cares for us? What does it mean to love and forgive each other? Parents and caregivers of children must play a primary role in returning our society to a healthy sense of the sacred. We must commit to feeding our children’s souls in the same way we commit to feeding their bodies.

  Marianne Williamson

  Children, Believe, Mean

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• Through compassion it is possible to recognize that the craving for love that people feel resides also in our own hearts, that the cruelty the world knows all too well is also rooted in our own impulses. Through compassion we also sense our hope for forgiveness in our friends' eyes and our hatred in their bitter mouths. When they kill, we know that we could have done it; when they give life, we know that we can do the same. For a compassionate person nothing human is alien: no joy and no sorrow, no way of living and no way of dying.

  Henri Nouwen

  Heart, Eye, Compassion

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• Our own worst enemy cannot harm us as much as our unwise thoughts. No one can help us as much as our own compassionate thoughts.

  Gautama Buddha

  Life, Worst Enemy, Mindfulness

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• Just beneath the surface of all experiences in life is God's, or the Guru's, compassionate face.

  Mata Amritanandamayi

  Spiritual, Faces, Life Is

  Twitter post from Feb 27, 2016

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• A sadhak (one who does spiritual practice) will not have time to indulge in gossip. They will not feel like talking to anyone in a harsh manner. Those who always indulge in faultfinding will never achieve spiritual progress. Do not harm anyone by thoughts, words or deeds. Be compassionate towards all beings. Ahimsa (nonviolence) is the highest dharma (duty).

  Mata Amritanandamayi

  Spiritual, Talking, Practice

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• If I hadn't spent many years trying to be as compassionate as Mother Teresa, as positive a thinker as W. Clement Stone, as prolific a writer as Stephen King, and as good a speaker as many of the legends I have studied, I would not be as successful as I am today.

  Jack Canfield

  Inspirational, Mother, Kings

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• Is it possible that the environmental severity of the 1930s induced-particularly in the most aware, alert, and compassionate of [British] men-a morality which makes no sense today?

  Robert Ardrey

  Men, Today, Poverty

  Robert Ardrey (1966). “The Territorial Imperative”

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• The only things standing between you and the compassionate, wise, and creative person you want to be are matters of choice. Your choice. No one can occupy your generosity except you.

  Gary Zukav

  Wise, Generosity, Choices

  "Occupy Your Heart" by Gary Zukav, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 31, 2012.

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• I'm a conservative, and I'm a compassionate conservative. And I think it's important that Florida continues to move in that direction.

  Charlie Crist

  Moving, Thinking, Florida

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• I wish I had been a better mother and a more compassionate and understanding wife in both of my marriages.

  Alana Stewart

  Mother, Wife, Understanding

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• Well, I think that if you sincerely try to imagine what life is like for another person - not in a mocking way, not in a satirical way, but in a sincere, compassionate way - I don't think that's exploitive.

  Curtis Sittenfeld

  Thinking, Life Is Like, Trying

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• To nourish the soul means to become kinder, more compassionate, wiser, and more loving, often through the making of difficult choices that foster growth rather than safety. The nourishment and growth of the soul is the very reason for human life.

  Joan Z. Borysenko

  Mean, Difficult Choices, Safety

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• Meat eating and a compassionate religion do not go hand in hand.

  Bodo Balsys

  Buddhist, Hands, Meat Eating

  Bodo Balsys (2004). “Ahiṃsā: Buddhism and the Vegetarian Ideal”

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• It is not hateful to say that an immoral action is sinful. On the contrary, the most compassionate thing we can do is help people to turn away from sin. To ignore another person's wrongful actions is a sign of apathy or indifference, while fraternal correction is motivated by love for that person's well-being, as can be seen by the fact that our Lord Jesus himself urged such correction. Indeed, the call to repentance is at the heart of the Gospel, as Jesus proclaimed, "The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Good News" (Mark 1:15).

  Thomas J. Paprocki

  Jesus, Believe, Heart

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• If you'd like to have a better incarnation, then have one now. If that's your attitude, just let go and meditate and try to be as wise and compassionate, as understanding as you can.

  Frederick Lenz

  Letting Go, Wise, Attitude

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• A tender-hearted and compassionate disposition, which inclines men to pity and feel the misfortunes of others, and which is, even for its own sake, incapable of involving any man in ruin and misery, is of all tempers of mind the most amiable; and though it seldom receives much honor, is worthy of the highest.

  Henry Fielding

  Men, Honor, Mind

  Henry Fielding (1903). “The Works of Henry Fielding: With an Essay on His Life and Genius”

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