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
People who care about animals tend to care about people. They don't care about animals to the exclusion of people. Caring is not a finite resource and, even more than that, it's like a muscle: the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Caring for animals and people are interconnected aspects of empathy and compassion.
This quote by Jonathan Safran Foer emphasizes the idea that caring for animals often reflects a broader capacity for empathy that extends to people as well. It suggests that compassion is not limited; rather, it grows stronger the more it is practiced, akin to a muscle that benefits from regular exercise, thereby fostering a deeper connection between caring for both animals and humans.
Themes
CareCompassionEmpathyAnimalsPeopleRelationshipStrength
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about volunteer work, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of compassion in community service.
More from Jonathan Safran Foer
All quotes →Memory was supposed to fill the time, but it made time a hole to be filled. Each second was two hundred yards, to be walked, crawled. You couldn't see the next hour, it was so far in the distance. Tomorrow was over the horizon, and would take an entire day to reach.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
She was not crying Which surprised me very much But I understand now That she had found places For her melancholy That were behind more masks Than only her eyes
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What do babies dream of? She must be dreaming of the before-life, just as I dream of the afterlife.
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A few weeks after the worst day, I started writing lots of letters. I don't know why, but it was one of the only things that made my boots lighter.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What is being awake if not interpreting our dreams, or dreaming if not interpreting our wake?
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
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