#empathy

You’re like a god from a Greek myth, Saiman. You have no empathy. You have no concept of the world beyond your ego. Wanting something gives you an automatic right to obtain it by whatever means necessary with no regard to the damage it may do. I would be careful if I were you. Friends and objects of deities’ desires dropped like flies. In the end the gods always ended up miserable and alone." — Kate Daniels ↗

— Ilona Andrews

#ego #empathy #friendship #gods #greek-mythology

I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at all. The discussion about human evolution might not revolve as much around violence, warfare and male dominance, but rather around sexuality, empathy, caring and cooperation. What a different intellectual landscape we would occupy! ↗

— Frans de Waal

#cooperation #empathy #evolution #frans-de-waal #male-dominance

I couldn’t think of anyone I’d ever felt sorry for. There were plenty of kids I was envious of. There were others I achingly admired, but that might simply be another form of jealousy. Then there were those I feared, dreaded. And the worst of them, the man who shamed me. I could see my father’s angry features looming over my mother. I could clearly picture her beside him in his truck, cowering against the door while he belittled and assaulted her. I guess I did know someone I felt sorry for. ↗

— Richelle E. Goodrich

#empathy #envy #jealousy #pity #richelle

I think it's impossible to really know someone, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. ↗

— Orson Scott Card

#love #love

While eschewing emotion - and its companion, vulnerability - Obama should be careful not to sacrifice empathy, the 'I feel your pain' connection that sustained Clinton. This connection is the shorthand people use to measure their leaders' intentions. If people believe you're on their side, they will trust your decisions. ↗

— Dee Dee Myers

#believe #careful #clinton #companion #connection

I don't mean to criticize anyone in any way that I wouldn't criticize myself. I think people should have fun, and have a good time, and enjoy the luck that we have to be lazy and dwell in consumerism. But I think that it's a balance. And our job as actors is empathy. ↗

— Natalie Portman

#anyone #balance #consumerism #criticize #dwell

A little anger is a good thing if it isn't on your own behalf, if it's for others deserving of your anger, your empathy. ↗

— David Simon

#anger #behalf #deserving #empathy #good

Literature sucks you into another psyche. So the creation of empathy necessarily influences how you'll behave to other people. ↗

— Barbara Kingsolver

#behave #creation #empathy #how #influences

Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about? ↗

— Harper Lee

#empathy #judgement #judgement

...treat people with understanding when you can, and fake it when you can't until you do understand. ↗

— Kim Harrison

#kindness #understanding #empathy