Margaret Oliphant Quotes

Cruelty, I truly believe, is the one and only sin.

The great instrument of moral good is the imagination.

The artistic side of a person is never narcissist; it's always empathic. It's always kind and compassionate.

The practice of love can be expressed in one sentence: 'Do not harm others.'

There is nothing to be gained by being unnecessarily nasty. Violence begets violence.

Refraining from harm, not out of fear, but out of concern for others, their well-being and out of respect is non-violence.

The real index of civilization is when people are kinder than they need to be.

Humans are not really very humane.

No man can write who is not first a humanitarian

Animals don't hate, and we're supposed to be better than them.

Nature is cruel but we don't have to be

Even to smile at the misfortunes of others is to do an injury.

Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion

It's obvious you shouldn't steal, kill or be cruel.

I'd never hurt another person.

The stirrings of morality emerge early in childhood. Toddlers spontaneously offer toys and help to others and try to comfort people they see in distress.

I have a great deal of empathy for anyone who's having a hard time. I believe this ability to see another's viewpoint has served me well as a writer.

Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.

When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?

I was very spiritual as a kid. I think I felt and thought about things a lot more deeply than most of the other kids my age. I wanted to help people.

Human morality is unthinkable without empathy.

I think it's important to experience kindness so that you can experience it more in the future. I believe that patterns of emotional behavior are set down before adolescence. And I think that if you have not observed kindness, you will not recognize it. You have to experience kindness in order to be kind.

A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own.

She has no imagination and that means no compassion.

We have to teach empathy as we do literacy.