Below are the best quotes we could find on Offering Support to Others and empathy.
CLEAR ALL
Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.
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Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands.
Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.
There is a line. It’s etched from dignity. And raging, fearful people from the right and left are crossing it at unprecedented rates every single day. We must never tolerate dehumanization—the primary instrument of violence that has been used in every genocide recorded throughout history.
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The only meaningful thing we can offer one another is love. Not advice, not questions about our choices, not suggestions for the future, just love.
One fire burns out another’s burning, one pain is lessen’d by another’s anguish.
Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence.
People who are hurting don’t need Avoiders, Protectors, or Fixers. What we need are patient, loving witness. People to sit quietly and hold space for us. People to stand in helpful vigil to our pain.
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Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world.
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Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.
