Karen Armstrong Quotes

Compassion is not a virtue -- it is a commitment. It's not something we have or don't have -- it's something we choose to practice.

I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives.

I think of compassion as the fundamental religious experience and, unless that is there, you have nothing.

True compassion is not just an emotional response, but a firm commitment founded on reason. Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change, even if they behave negatively. Through universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others: the wish to help them actively overcome their problems.

When we are devoted to the development of kindness, it becomes our ready response, so that reacting from compassion, from caring, is not a question of giving ourselves a lecture: 'I don't really feel like it, but I'd better be helpful, or what would people think?'

True kindness isn't something we're born with. It's something we have to work at. Not everyone has it. But I think everyone has the potential. Sometimes you just have to look really close before you can tell it's there."-Kyoko

People may excite in themselves a glow of compassion, not by toasting their feet at the fire, and saying: "Lord, teach me compassion," but by going and seeking an object that requires compassion.

When you have enough understanding and compassion in you, then that amount of understanding and compassion will try to express itself in action. And your practice should help you to cultivate more understanding and compassion.

All my actions have their rise in my inalienable love of mankind.

Compassion is our most important practice. Understanding brings compassion. Understanding the suffering that living beings undergo helps liberate the energy of compassion. And with that energy you know what to do.

I truly believe that compassion provides the basis of human survival.

Compassion is an act of tolerance where kindness and forgiveness reign. When we make the compassionate choice, we enhance the dignity of each individual, which is the very essence of loving them.

Compassion is the ultimate expression of your highest self

Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering.

Some people think that without that spark of empathy we would do nothing, but that's just flat-out wrong. You could feel compassion for somebody without the spark of empathy.

I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the other.... The whole purpose of life is to live by love.

Can you be compassionate even to those who have no compassion? If so, there is no finer karma that you can create.

Nothing helps us build our perspective more than developing compassion for others. Compassion is a sympathetic feeling. It involves the willingness to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to take the focus off yourself and to imagine what it's like to be in someone else's predicament, and simultaneously, to feel love for that person. It's the recognition that other people's problems, their pain and frustrations, are every bit as real as our own-often far worse. In recognizing this fact and trying to offer some assistance, we open our own hearts and greatly enhance our sense of gratitude.

You don't have to feel bad to act kindly. Love doesn't stand by, it moves with the speed of clarity.

I am working on a technical paper on compassion. So I am reading everything I can on the subject, including my own mind and heart.

Compassion is a mental quality that can bring us true lasting inner peace and inner strength.

Words and thoughts concerning compassionate action that are not put into practice are like beautiful flowers that are colorful but have no fragrance.

You can tell by the kindness of a dog how a human should be.