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Compassion is not an option. It's the key to our survival.
Karen Armstrong
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Compassion is essential for human survival, not merely a choice.

In this quote, Karen Armstrong emphasizes the importance of compassion in sustaining our human existence. She suggests that empathy and understanding for one another are crucial not just for nurturing relationships but also for building a society where individuals can thrive together. Without compassion, we risk losing our humanity in the face of conflict and adversity.

Themes

CompassionSurvivalEmpathyHumanityKindness

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech on community service, one could use this quote to inspire volunteering.

More from Karen Armstrong

Compassion is the key in Islam and Buddhism and Judaism and Christianity. They are profoundly similar.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our limited needs, fears and desires. We can assume that he loves what we love and hates what we hate, endorsing our prejudices instead of compelling us to transcend them.
Karen ArmstrongRead
When violence becomes imbedded in a region, then this affects everything. It affects your dreams, your fantasies and relationships, and your religion becomes violent, too.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Far from being the father of jihad, [Prophet] Mohammad was a peacemaker, who risked his life and nearly lost the loyalty of his closest companions because he was determined to effect a reconciliation with Mecca
Karen ArmstrongRead
Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Religion is a search for transcendence. But transcendence isn't necessarily sited in an external god, which can be a very unspiritual, unreligious concept.
Karen ArmstrongRead

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