I feel like everything you learn as an actor growing up is wrong. You're supposed to hit your mark, find your light and know your lines. Those are all things that just make things wooden, dull and boring.
Joaquin PhoenixRead
It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being kind to animals does not diminish one's humanity.
This quote by Joaquin Phoenix emphasizes the inherent value of kindness towards animals, suggesting that extending compassion to them is a reflection of one's own humanity. It highlights that kindness is not a zero-sum game; being kind to those who are vulnerable, like animals, only enhances our moral character rather than detracts from it.
Themes
KindnessAnimalsCompassionHumanityMoral Progress
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about animal rights, this quote could serve to inspire compassion among the audience.
More from Joaquin Phoenix
All quotes βI was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one fish was caught, he was writhing, then he was thrown against the side of the boat. You couldn't disguise what it was. This was what we did to animals to eat them. The animal went from a living, vibrant creature fighting for life to a violent death. I recognized it, as did my brothers and sisters.
Joaquin PhoenixRead
I don't think one should be comfortable standing on a stage with people applauding and laughing at every stupid thing you say.
Joaquin PhoenixRead
I have this horrible sense of humor where I think discomfort is funny - partly because I experience discomfort a lot, and it's a way of laughing at it and getting a release.
Joaquin PhoenixRead
We are all animals of this planet. We are all creatures. And nonhuman animals experience pain sensations just like we do. They too are strong, intelligent, industrious, mobile, and evolutional. They too are capable of growth and adaptation. Like us, firsthand foremost, they are earthlings. And like us, they are surviving. Like us they also seek their own comfort rather than discomfort. And like us they express degrees of emotion. In short like us, they are alive.
Joaquin PhoenixRead
I think the day that I become comfortable doing interviews and going on talk shows is the day that I don't know what it is to be a human being anymore.
Joaquin PhoenixRead
Similar quotes
Compassion and pity are very different. Whereas compassion reflects the yearning of the heart to merge and take on some of the suffering, pity is a controlled set of thoughts designed to assure separateness. Compassion is the spontaneous response of love; pity, the involuntary reflex of fear.
Ram DassRead
If you have a sick or lonely person at home, be there. Maybe just to hold a hand, maybe just to give a smile, that is the greatest, the most beautiful work.
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Aside from doing everything possible to provide programs for people who are seriously ill, I want to do everything humanly possible to help create a more caring society so that we can begin to counter the painful loneliness and sense of helplessness which has engulfed too many of our people.
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By compassion we make others' misery our own, and so, by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also.
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If our hearts are ready for anything, we will spontaneously reach out when others are hurting. Living in an ethical way can attune us to the pain and needs of others, but when our hearts are open and awake, we care instinctively.
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I wish people would realize that animals are totally dependent on us, helpless, like children, a trust that is put upon us.
James HerriotRead