John Churton Collins Quotes

On airplanes, strangers confide in me the most deepest, darkest secrets. And I think they think I'll understand. And I generally do understand.

People let me into their lives, whether it's a tragic or victorious circumstance.

I traffic in empathy. I try to be vulnerable with people so they can be vulnerable back. I've always been searching for empathy in other people. It's when I feel most not alone.

You can relate to somebody's pain and you have compassion, which can lead to intimacy.

People talked to me in a way I think they would not have talked to somebody who hadn't shared the experience; they gave me their papers, they gave me their diaries. I found people constantly opening up to me. And I think they did because I had shared that experience with them.

Empathy goes a long way, for sure. We cannot have healthy, loving, mutually respectful relationships without it. But we're not psychic. At least I'm not. And intuition can only take you so far, especially when a person's sense of safety, comfort, and self-worth hangs in the balance.

I have a lot of people in my life, and I think there's something key: the thing that leads to intimacy and relationship and connection is tenderness.

I think that our view of love and family informs our work, the way we empathize with people.

A lot of people would write to me long stories from their lives, and I felt they were thinking of me as some sort of treasure chest to keep their secrets. I felt like sometimes they would tell me stories they wouldn't tell anybody else in the whole world. And I loved these stories.

Not listening to people who care about you, not to be open or transparent, will make you isolated.

Despair is despair, sorrow is sorrow, death is death. It's not about who is experiencing it; it's about building a bridge of empathy across these experiences.

I think I felt very alone for a lot of my life, but once I was able to share my story more and more, and people wouldn't say, 'Hey, I felt sorry for you,' but, 'I get it, and I understand you,' it kind of encouraged me to tell it more. I just don't want people to feel alone.

Because he sounded so lost-the Eric I knew had never been one to do anything other than assume others should serve him-I patted around under the covers for his hand. When I found it, I slid my own over it. His palm was turned up to meet my palm, and his fingers clasped mine. And though I would not have thought it possible to go to sleep holding hands with a vampire, that's exactly what I did.

For me, romance isn't an over-the-top act. It's someone offering to help and to support me. Or if that person thinks I'm making the wrong decision, he'll tell me. I want him to be honest, because being that honest takes a lot of guts.

Friends... they cherish one another's hopes. They are kind to one another's dreams.

To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller, but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it.

I don't think love is a tricky issue at all. Love is best understood when we share: Share time, energy, food, resources, insights, information, whatever. It's usually thought of as something that exists between two people, but that's just because it's easier to see and feel in the space between them. Each person is sharing a lot with the other.

Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.

If fear is the great enemy of intimacy, love is its true friend.

I could only try to comfort the women that I came face-to-face with. I was really moved by how much they wanted to talk, how much they needed to be comforted, and how happy they were that we were there.

The strong bond of friendship is not always a balanced equation; friendship is not always about giving and taking in equal shares. Instead, friendship is grounded in a feeling that you know exactly who will be there for you when you need something, no matter what or when.

Through my research, I found that vulnerability is the glue that holds relationships together. It's the magic sauce.

What is a friend? I will tell you... it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.

All I want is for people, when they read my books, to feel companioned, to feel they're not alone in the world.

It makes you feel good to know that there's other people afflicted like you.