We burned with love for ourselves, all of us, starters of the fire we suffered- our love was the affliction for which only our love was the cure.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use, and the regular exercise of choosing kindness over cruelty would change us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Compassion requires practice and strengthens over time, influencing our character positively.
This quote emphasizes that compassion, much like a muscle, can be cultivated and made stronger through consistent practice. By consciously choosing to act with kindness rather than cruelty, we can transform ourselves and the impact we have on others, fostering a more empathetic society.
Themes
CompassionKindnessStrengthChangeCruelty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a motivational speech about building a compassionate community.
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Similar quotes
Unless you have suffered and wept, you really don't understand what compassion is, nor can you give comfort to someone who is suffering. If you haven't cried, you can't dry another's eyes. Unless you've walked in darkness, you can't help wanderers find the way. Unless you've looked into the eyes of menacing death and felt its hot breath, you can't help another rise from the dead and taste anew the joy of being alive.
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At every moment in our lives we need compassion, but what more urgent moment could there be than when we are dying? What more wonderful and consoling gift could you give to dying people than the knowledge that they are being prayed for, and that you are taking on their suffering and purifying their negative karma through your practice for them?
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