Ned Vizzini Quotes

War is a beastly business, it is true, but one proof we are human is our ability to learn, even from it, how better to exist.

It is not easy to talk about peace to people who are mourning every day.

Love is a universal thing that everyone understands. Love, like death, is the only thing that binds humanity.

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.

She is Living and I'm Dead, but I'd like to believe we're both human. Call me an idealist.

I think our music is more about seeing ourselves in each other and trying to find a more humanistic viewpoint for the world.

I think sometimes the very reason we go through something is so that we can be empathetic with another person later on.

I think it's the same with all the relationships between a man and a woman. They can survive anything so long as some kind of basic humanity exists between the two people. When all kindness has gone, when one person obviously and sincerely doesn't care if the other is alive or dead, then it's just no good. -- from Quantum of Solace

but you could also look at it the other way. Like you’re saying no matter how bad things are for you, I can still relate.

I think when you've gone through a betrayal in life then when somebody's been betrayed you can talk to the person about it. If your husband's been unfaithful to you, you know what that's like, you know how that feels. You can share true empathy with someone.

I see myself as a witness to humanity.

People love to be listened to and represented, and they love it when they feel like you have some of the same problems that they do. Everybody deals with things like romantic difficulties in relationships and death and cancer and abuse.

I have to say, I'm still surprised anyone's nice to me, that anyone talks to me. But I think people understand that other people go through things. We're all a bit gonzo, and you're allowed to take a little time to get your head on straight.

Cancer is a growth hormone for empathy, and empathy makes us useful to each other in ways we were not, could not have been, before.

In these times of stress, snark, division and despair, I still suspect that two of the most important features we possess are imagination and a capacity for goodness. Those are qualities for which we will be remembered most fondly.

As a war correspondent and a mother, I've learned to live in two different realities... but it's my choice. I choose to live in peace and witness war - to experience the worst in people but to remember the beauty.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.

When I was growing up, my mother, who had been through a lot of terrible things in life, taught me that when life is tough your instinct is to close your heart. But if you can accept what happened and reach out to someone, there will always be someone less fortunate, or someone that can bring a solution and help your life.

Someone who has experienced trauma also has gifts to offer all of us - in their depth, their knowledge of our universal vulnerability, and their experience of the power of compassion.

Above all, I try to create an emotion to which others can respond.

I don't think we have to have a personal relation to a life lost to understand that something terrible has taken place, especially in the context of war.

Well, I was a big fan of the book and therein a huge fan of the girl Precious. And so I felt like I knew this girl. I felt like I'd grown up alongside her. I felt like she was in my family. She was my friend and she was like people I didn't want to be friends with.

I hope people learn the power of vulnerability through my songs. I think vulnerability can save the world. Empathy helps people connect with each other.

There will always be crazy things that happen in our lives, but love is the central connector. If we commit to love and partnership, the other stuff doesn't matter.

When you boil war down or all conflict down to two people, it's a great advert for humanity sometimes. People can find connections with each other, regardless of the bigger picture.