70 inspiring empathy quotes to foster understanding and compassion

70 inspiring empathy quotes to foster understanding and compassion

Empathy is one of the qualities of an emotionally intelligent person. It is the ability to understand and put yourself in another person's shoes. You can be empathetic by being sensitive and understanding other people's feelings. Send these inspiring empathy quotes to foster understanding and compassion in others.

Inspiring empathy quotes
Empathy quotes make the world a better place. Photo: pexels.com, @lizasummer (modified by author)
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Empathy is the ability to see the world through other people's eyes, especially when they are going through a hard time. When you extend grace to another person, it helps alleviate their pain and make them feel better. Although empathy is easy to say, doing it can be challenging. You can share quotes on empathy with others to make them feel better.

Inspiring empathy quotes

The world is full of people who feel disconnected and discouraged. You need to show empathy to these people to inspire them to be better. Below are some powerful quotes about empathy you can share.

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  • Empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing. — Marshall B. Rosenberg
  • Empathy is the ability to recognize and respect others' perspectives, even when they differ from our own. — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • If there is any one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from his angle and your own. — Henry Ford
  • I believe that what we regret most are our failures of courage, whether it’s the courage to be kinder, to show up, to say how we feel, to set boundaries, to be good to ourselves. For that reason, regret can be the birthplace of empathy. — Brené Brown
  • Empathy is the key that unlocks the door to understanding and connection. — Brené Brown
  • I do not ask the wounded person how he feels; I become the wounded person. — Walt Whitman
  • Resilience is, of course, necessary for a warrior. But a lack of empathy isn't. — Phil Klay
  • An exchange of empathy provides an entry point for many people to see what healing feels like. — Tarana Burke
  • Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can see. — Mark Twain
  • If you aren't humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you. — Anand Mahindra
  • The highest expression of empathy is accepting and non-judgmental. — Carl Rogers

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Short empathy quotes

Short empathy quotes
Empathy quotes instil a sense of care and understanding of people. Photo: pexels.com, @keiraburton (modified by author)
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Empathy is central to human connection, allowing people to understand and feel for others truly. You do not need a lot of words to promote kindness and a deeper sense of understanding. Here are short quotes about empathy you can share with your loved ones.

  • Compassion is the radicalism of our time. — Dalai Lama
  • Empathy is the antidote to shame. — Dr Brené Brown
  • Leadership is about empathy. — Oprah Winfrey
  • When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. — Ernest Hemingway
  • Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself. — Mohsin Hamid
  • The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy. — Meryl Streep
  • Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.— Joseph Fort Newton
  • Empathy is a muscle, so it needs to be exercised. — Satya Nadella
  • Empathy is the bridge that connects hearts and minds.— Daniel Goleman
  • I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it. — Maya Angelou
  • Empathy is a choice, and it's a vulnerable one.— Brené Brown
  • Empathy nurtures wisdom. Apathy cultivates ignorance. — Suzy Kassem

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Empathy quotes for a friend

Empathy quotes for a friend
Empathy quotes uniquely capture and understand others' emotions compassionately. Photo: pexels.com, @sofiashultz (modified by author)
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Expressing empathy offers support, relief and an open ear to others. It helps people strengthen friendships and find common ground. Below are good quotes about empathy you can share with a friend.

  • Learning to stand in somebody else's shoes, to see through their eyes, that's how peace begins. And it's up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world. — Barack Obama
  • If you look into someone's face long enough, eventually, you will feel that you're looking at yourself. — Paul Auster
  • Love is about bottomless empathy, born from the heart's revelation that another person is as real as you are. — Jonathan Franzen
  • The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself. — George Bernard Shaw
  • It's got to do with putting yourself in other people's shoes and seeing how far you can come to truly understand them. I like the empathy that comes from acting. — Christian Bale
  • Empathy is a hand outstretched in the darkness, saying, 'You're not alone.' — Padraig O Tuama
  • Too often, we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which can turn a life around. — Leo Buscaglia
  • This capacity for empathy leads to a genuine encounter — we must progress toward this culture of encounter — in which the heart speaks to the heart. — Pope Francis
  • If you share heartfelt sorrow, you can lighten a friend's load. Sometimes facing the burden together can mend two broken hearts in the end.— Wes Fesler
  • Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant? — Henry David Thoreau
  • Always think about whether your fun may cause another's unhappiness. — Aesop
  • Empathy is the antidote to indifference, allowing us to truly see and respond to the suffering of others. — Johann Hari

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Empathy quotes for colleagues

Empathy quotes for colleagues
Empathy quotes allow someone to understand what another person is feeling. Photo: pexels.com, @darlenealderson (modified by author)
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Embracing empathy fosters a culture of kindness and compassion at work. The following quote compilations will inspire you to build connections and encourage empathy in your workplace.

  • You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.— Harper Lee
  • Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output.— Simon Sinek
  • Empathy is key in the design process, especially when expanding outside your comfort zone to new languages, cultures, and age groups. If you try to assume what those people want, you will likely get it wrong. — Mike Krieger
  • Empathy is nice and the glue and accelerant for business transformation in the next era of business. Empathy's ability to create a culture of trust and innovation is unmatched, and this previously overlooked trait must be at the forefront of businesses across all industries.— Steve Payne
  • If you're asking how to create a more empathetic workplace, you're already way ahead of everybody else.— Daniel Lubetzky
  • Empathy is the art of putting yourself in someone else's shoes and walking alongside them, even if the path is unfamiliar or challenging.— Sheryl Sandberg
  • One of the most effective strategies for regulating emotion is cultivating an attitude of acceptance towards your emotions and the emotions of others. — Rachel Samson
  • As a leader, you should always start with where people are before you try to take them where you want them to go.—Jim Rohn
  • Judge tenderly if you must. There is usually a side you have not heard, a story you know nothing about, and a battle waged that you do not have to fight.— Traci Lea LaRussa
  • Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment. — Brené Brown
  • By peace, we mean the capacity to transform conflicts with empathy, without violence, and creatively – a never-ending process.— John Galtung
  • The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism. – Hannah Arendt

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Empathy quotes for adults

Empathy quotes for adults
Empathy quotes enable you to see the world through another’s eyes. Photo: pexels.com, @rdne (modified by author)
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Empathy is more than just a quality one should possess; it is a skill one can nurture and cultivate. It enables one to spread kindness and inspire understanding. Below are top quotes you can share to show compassion to others.

  • The state of empathy, or being empathic, is to perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain to it as if one were the person. — Carl Roger
  • When parents offer their children empathy and help them cope with negative feelings like anger, sadness, and fear, they build loyalty and affection bridges.— John M. Gottman
  • Nothing increases the respect and gratitude of one man for another more than when he is heard exactly and with interest. — R. Umbach
  • If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. — Nelson Mandela
  • The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another's pain as one's own and to act to take that pain away. There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.— John Connolly
  • Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize? — Marcus Aurelius
  • When someone is struggling, they already know. They don't need advice. They don't need solutions. They don't need judgment. What they need are a smile and grace. And to be reminded that the person behind the battle can still be loved. – Lauren Fortenberry
  • You don't teach morals and ethics and empathy and kindness in the schools. You teach that at home, and children learn by example. — Judy Sheindlin
  • People will forget what you've said. People will forget what you've done. But they will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou
  • Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.— Barbara Kingsolver
  • One does not have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding is sufficient. — Charles M. Blow
  • Empathy underlies virtually everything that makes society work—like trust, altruism, collaboration, love, charity. Failure to empathize is a vital part of most social problems—crime, violence, war, racism, child abuse, and inequity, to name just a few. — Bruce D. Perry

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Empathy quotes for kids

Empathy quotes for kids
Empathy quotes are good for teaching children how to treat others. Photo: pexels.com, @ketutsubiyanto (modified by author)
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Empathy is a key ingredient of friendship and community. It makes the world a better place, and teaching children about empathy from a young age is essential. Below are motivational quotes about empathy to teach kids about the true human spirit.

  • You should not judge; you should understand.— Ernest Hemingway
  • No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. — Theodore Roosevelt
  • If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. — Dalai Lama
  • If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours. — Dolly Parton
  • Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another. — Alfred Adler
  • Seek first to understand, then to be understood. — Stephen R. Covey
  • We have two ears and one mouth to listen twice as much as we speak. — Epictetus
  • Empathy is a connection and a ladder out of the shame hole. — Brené Brown
  • Empathy is as important as openness, honesty, and understanding for others. — Niko Kovac
  • Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act. — Eric Zorn
  • The opposite of anger is not calmness; it's empathy. — Mehmet Oz

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What is a good quote about empathy?

A good empathy quote highlights the importance of understanding and sharing others' feelings. It often emphasises the value of compassion and human connection in helping others through difficult times.

What is a powerful statement for empathy?

A powerful statement for empathy should convey the idea that empathy can bridge divides, heal emotional wounds, and create a sense of unity and support.

The world is full of hardship, and people need reassurance, kindness and compassion from others. It's easier to understand what someone else is going through when you've already experienced something similar. One way to show empathy is by sharing empathy quotes with others.

Legit.ng published an interesting article about boy mom quotes. There is a great connection between boys and their moms. Although raising boys into men is not easy, the joy and beauty of being a boy mom is irreplaceable.

Raising boys can be stressful as they are full of mischief. However, the love shared between moms and their sons makes the journey worthwhile. If you are a boy mom, learn to appreciate your son through these boy mom quotes.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Naomi Karina avatar

Naomi Karina (Lifestyle writer) Naomi Karina has been a digital content writer for more than two years. She joined the Legit team in August 2022. She graduated Bachelor of Commerce from KCA University in 2012. She also holds a Higher Diploma in Human Resources from the IHRM and a Diploma in Marketing from Kenyatta University. She is a content creator who enjoys writing about various topics such as biographies, entertainment and business. In 2023, Naomi finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. She expanded her skills in 2024 by undertaking the Google News Initiative course.