Bernie Siegel Quotes

Developing our capacity for compassion makes it possible for us to help others in a more skillful and effective way. And compassion helps us as well.

When you hear about what someone else is going through, and you are unable to distance yourself from it or in any way muzzle your empathy and are inspired to actually do something, these are moments to learn from.

There is no substitute for love and caring and compassion and human beings helping one another.

If you have not been served personally by caring hands in your own life, do not be bitter, but instead, ask yourself who you can now serve.

I always say, 'People first, then money, then things.'

I hope it's enabling me to deal with another human being who's more important to me than I am.

With all the things I've been through, the No. 1 thing that I've learned is that we're supposed to help people through this world.

Having felt people's love and support first hand through difficult moments in my life makes me feel it's our responsibility to help one another.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

How can you regret helping a suffering patient?

What a man takes in by contemplation, that he pours out in love.

Does anyone really go into nursing intending to be apathetic, cold and removed from suffering? I find that very difficult to believe.

People see a hungry face, and they want to feed it; that's a natural response.

It is selfish to concern oneself with tragedies.

Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.

What kind of man would I have been if I had not been there to help her? I felt along with her - not the physical pain, of course, but all her mental anguish. You can't be detached.

I've always wanted to do charity stuff. I'm such a nurturer and love taking care of people.

What are gold and jewels and precious utensils? Mere dross and dirt. The human face and the human heart, reciprocations of kindness and love, and all the nameless sympathies of our nature - these are the only objects worth being attached to.

Philanthropic work reminds you of everyone's common humanity, and that's really the common denominator for everyone.

I personally will never forget that people are more important than buildings.

We all need to realize that there are people out there who may be suffering and we all need to try to do our part to relieve that suffering when we can.

When medical students focus on helping others, they're able to weather the slings and arrows of long hours and devastating health outcomes: they know their colleagues and patients are depending on them.

Serving people is never a problem for me, because I've already served all my patients. Even as a doctor, I also wasn't purely a doctor.

What separates humans from other animals is our empathy. With the possible exception of bonobos, we are the most empathetic animal on the planet.

I'm not someone who seeks out stories of people who are suffering. I think they just kind of find me.