Maharajji told me, 'Give up anger and I'll help you.' I found _x000D_ that love freed me back into the ocean of love and my righteous anger didn't do that. And I would rather be free than right.
Ram DassRead
Compassion is the basis of all truthful relationship: it means being present with love-for ourselves and for all life, including animals, fish, birds, and trees. Compassion is bringing our deepest truth into our actions, no matter how much the world seems to resist, because that is ultimately what we have to give this world and one another.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Compassion is essential for genuine connections, requiring love for ourselves and all living beings.
This quote emphasizes that compassion is fundamental to honest and meaningful relationships. It suggests that being truly present with love for ourselves and all life forms, including nature, enriches our interactions and actions, even in the face of adversity. Ultimately, it reminds us that our ability to show compassion is one of the most valuable gifts we can offer to the world and each other.
Themes
CompassionRelationshipsLoveTruthAction
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of compassion in building strong, supportive relationships.
More from Ram Dass
All quotes →The gift you offer another person is just your being.
Ram DassRead
Let the natural flow of the universe, course through your being, and harmonize your soul.
Ram DassRead
You can be still and still moving. Content even in your discontent.
Ram DassRead
The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back. _x000D_ _x000D_ In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight. _x000D_ _x000D_ When we see the Beloved in each person, it's like walking through a garden, watching flowers bloom all around us.
Ram DassRead
When I look at relationships, my own and others, I see a wide range of reasons for people to be together and ways in which they are together. I see ways in which a relationship - which means something that exists between two or more people - for the most part reinforces people's separateness as individual entities.
Ram DassRead
Similar quotes
The greatest fear dogs know is the fear that you will not come back when you go out the door without them.
Stanley CorenRead
Suffering should not define you as a woman! And just because you’re a man it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect you! HELP HER to remove the taboos and the loneliness surrounding this disease; be understanding, show empathy, and don’t accuse her of being sensitive, delicate, or overly dramatic – this is a big opportunity for you guys to show that you care and to be a real man!
Susan SarandonRead
The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family and close friends.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
Because maybe, in a way, we didn't leave it behind nearly as much as we might once have thought. Because somewhere underneath, a part of us stayed like that: fearful of the world around us, and no matter how much we despised ourselves for it--unable quite to let each other go.
Kazuo IshiguroRead
To get a child's trust - you may know or not - is a very hard thing to do. They're so used to not believing adults - because adults tell tales and lies all the time.
Maurice SendakRead
Authentic men aren't afraid to show affection, release their feelings, hug their children, cry when they're sad, admit it when they're wrong, and ask for help when they need it.
Charles R. SwindollRead