To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that one that must be loved is not a friend. There is not merit in loving an enemy when you forget him for a friend.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Compassion grows stronger as we practice it, just like a muscle.
This quote by Mahatma Gandhi suggests that compassion is not just an inherent trait, but a skill that can be developed through intentional practice. Just as physical muscles become stronger with exercise, so too can our capacity for empathy and kindness be enhanced the more we engage in compassionate acts towards others.
Themes
CompassionEmpathyStrengthPracticeGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote to inspire a team during a community service day.
More from Mahatma Gandhi
All quotes βLove never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma GandhiRead
The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mahatma GandhiRead
The devotion of such titans of spirit as Lenin to an Ideal must bear fruit. The nobility of his selflessness will be an example through centuries to come, and his Ideal will reach perfection.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Similar quotes
Most people use their energy attempting to rearrange circumstances that trigger painful emotions. Changing external circumstances will not change your rigid patterns of emotional response. That requires looking at the patterns themselves.
Gary ZukavRead
What you know today can affect what you do tomorrow. But what you know today cannot affect what you did yesterday.
Condoleezza RiceRead
There's nothing you can do that's more important than being fulfilled. You become a sign, you become a signal, transparent to transcendence; in this way, you will find, live, and become a realization of your own personal myth.
Joseph CampbellRead
I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.
Cato The ElderRead
I was going to be a surgeon at one point, and I remember being taught that the surgical heroes aren't the ones that can staunch the bleeding; what you want is the surgeon that doesn't cause any bleeding in the first place.
Norman SwanRead
You are too young to know how the world changes everyday,' said Mrs Creakle, 'and how the people in it pass away. But we all have to learn it, David; some of us when we are young, some of us when we are old, some of us at all times in our lives.
Charles DickensRead