Dalai Lama Quotes

But the law of loving others could not be discovered by reason, because it is unreasonable.

Some things have eternal value, and compassion is one of them. I hope we never lose that. Compassion for humans as well as animals.

One of the problems with being relatively conscious and human, is that you want to help everybody.

The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty.

Compassion is not defined in one form. There's no Indian compassion. There's no American compassion. It transcends nation, the gender, the age. Why? Because it is there in everybody. It's experienced by people occasionally.

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.

Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.

Compassion is something really worthwhile. It is not just a religious or spiritual subject, not a matter of ideology. It is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love.

It's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?

I was deeply interested in conveying what is a deeply felt conviction of my own. This is simply to suggest that human beings must involve themselves in the anguish of other human beings. This, I submit to you, is not a political thesis at all. It is simply an expression of what I would hope might be ultimately a simple humanity for humanity's sake.

As human beings we each have a responsibility to care for humanity. Expressing concern for others brings inner strength and deep satisfaction. As social animals, human beings need friendship, but friendship doesn't come from wealth and power, but from showing compassion and concern for others.

An act of love always tends towards two things; to the good that one wills, and to the person for whom one wills it.

Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth.

Pain and sorrow and misery have a right to our assistance: compassion puts us in mind of the debt, and that we owe it to ourselves as well as to the distressed.

Compassion and mercy are important, period. It doesn't matter who's at our receiving end, but we need to be flexing those muscles. It's not mutually exclusive: If you have compassion for children starving in Africa, it doesn't mean you can't have compassion for adults in Africa or animals that are being tortured and abused.

You don't need a religious background to strive for something good, for genuine compassion and love for others.

Because a human being is endowed with empathy, he violates the natural order if he does not reach out to those who need care. Responding to this empathy, one is in harmony with the order of things, with dharma; otherwise, one is not.

Survival is a privilege which entails obligations. I am forever asking myself what I can do for those who have not survived.

Writing about a person whose struggle you wish you could solve is an act of compassion and also, frankly, opportunism.

Compassion is not having any hesitation to reflect your light on things

Love starts when we push aside our ego and make room for someone else.

A mind committed to compassion is like an overflowing reservoir - a constant source of energy, determination, and kindness.

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

What is love? The need of coming out of one's self.