William Stafford Quotes

The wise are wise only because they love. The fool are fools only because they think they can understand love.

Traveling around I don't think people are that horrible, I think they just don't know.

People need to be more aware of how they're affecting people.

It's never that hard for me to imagine what it must feel like to be someone else, whether it's an American teenage girl or a Japanese octogenarian man.

It's always easier to dismiss other people than to go through the awkward and time consuming process of understanding them.

We can never judge a soul above the high water mark of our own.

People are starting to understand the other side's perspective and that's where empathy can sort of begin - once you quit judging other people but just understand where they're coming from.

While people judge others from their own moral standpoint, the wise person looks also at the point of view of another.

Tolerance is a cheap, low-grade parody of love. Tolerance is not a great virtue to aspire to. Love is much tougher and harder.

Acceptance, tolerance, bravery, compassion. These are the things my mom taught me!

... not talking about things she doesn't understand to people who do or about things she does to people who don't.

Be kind to dumb people.

I never had to put myself in somebody else's shoes.

Tolerance and compassion are qualities of fearless people.

Don't be a jerk. Try to love everyone. Give more than you take. And do it despite the fact that you only really like about seven out of 500 people.

If I could have one wish, it would be for people to look at one another with open hearts and minds. Most of all, to look at each other with compassion. No matter who they are.

Grant people a lifetime of forgiveness before you even meet them.

It doesn't do you any service to demonize any group of people. It's much better to try and understand from the inside.

Remember that other people may be totally wrong. But they don't think so. Don't condemn them. Any fool can do that. Try to understand them. Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people even try to do that.

We need to be more sensitive to each other.

People can be ignorant and still have loving, human qualities.

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.

Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.

Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.

Be kind. It's worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you might have in common with them.