Here are the best inspirational quotes on sympathy and empathy that will inspire compassion, love, and kindness.
Have you ever felt your heart break when you saw someone crying? Or smiled without thinking when a stranger laughed? That’s the basis of caring about others — and one of the most beautiful qualities about being human.
We all need someone who gets us—someone who says, “I understand” and means it, someone who sits with us when we’re sad or celebrates with us when we’re happy. This kind of caring has two names: sympathy and empathy. Don’t worry—they’re not that different, and both are amazing.
Sympathy means being a good friend when someone is hurting. You see their pain, you feel sorry for them, and you want to help. You might not feel exactly what they feel, but you care enough to be there.
Empathy goes a step deeper. It’s when you feel what someone else feels — When they hurt, you hurt. When they’re happy, you light up too. Like your hearts are connected by invisible strings.
So here are beautiful quotes on sympathy and empathy wrapped in understanding and love to inspire and uplift.
When we truly care about others, something magical happens. We don’t just make their day better — we make our own hearts bigger too.
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Inspiring Quotes on Sympathy and Empathy for Everyday Life
1. “All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.” — Tahereh Mafi
2. “Sympathy was to respect the feelings of another. Empathy was to actually share those feelings.” — Stephen King
3. “Sympathy maintains distance, but empathy draws near.” — Unknown
4. “Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.” — Alfred Adler
5. “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” — Ernest Hemingway
6. “The highest form of knowledge is empathy.” — Bill Bullard
7. “For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.” — Milan Kundera
8. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” — Plato
9. “It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” — John Joseph Powell
10. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” — Golden Rule
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11. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” — Leo Buscaglia
12. “The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” — Meryl Streep
13. “If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” — Brené Brown
14. “Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” — Mohsin Hamid
15. “Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about?” — Harper Lee
16. “Sympathy is easy; empathy takes work.” — Unknown
17. “When good people consider you the bad guy, you develop a heart to help the bad ones. You actually understand them.” — Criss Jami
18. “Empathy is feeling with people.” — Brené Brown
19. “Good works is giving to the poor and the helpless, but divine works is showing them their worth to the One who matters.” — Criss Jami
20. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view; until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” — Atticus
21. “Though sympathy alone can’t alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.” — Bram Stoker
22. “Empathy and social skills are social intelligence, the interpersonal part of emotional intelligence. That’s why they look alike.” — Daniel Goleman
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23. “You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” — John Steinbeck
24. “The most important thing is that we need to be understood. We need someone to be able to listen to us and to understand us. Then we will suffer less.” — Nhat Hanh
25. “All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca
26. “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” — Albert Einstein
27. “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” — Amelia Earhart
28. “If you share in a heart-felt sorrow, you can lighten the load of a friend. Sometimes facing the burden together can mend two broken hearts in the end.” — Wes Fessler
29. “Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.” — Charles Glassman
30. “If we can’t see eye to eye lets try heart to heart.” — Unknown
31. “Love and empathy are inseparable.” — Unknown
32. “Without empathy, humanity fades.” — Desmond Tutu
33. “Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.” — Erich Fromm
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34. “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one… just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
35. “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity.” — Brené Brown
36. “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.” — Jesse Jackson
37. “Empathy shapes our ability to make a positive impact.” — Marshall Goldsmith
38. “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question – What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” — Marcus Aurelius
39. “Lead with empathy, and others will follow with trust.” — Unknown
40. “When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you.” — Susan Sarandon
41. “Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.” — Warren Bennis
42. “It’s the hardest thing in the world to go on being aware of someone else’s pain.” — Pat Barker
43. “Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate and connect with people.” — Oprah Winfrey
44. “Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.” — Arthur Schopenhauer
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45. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” — Ian Maclaren
46. “The more sympathy you give, the less you need.” — Malcolm Forbes
47. “We must all try to empathize before we criticize. Ask someone what’s wrong before telling them they are wrong.” — Simon Sinek
48. “Those who weep recover more quickly than those who smile.” — Jean Giraudoux
49. “Sympathy is the golden key that unlocks the hearts of others.” — Samuel Smiles
50. “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” — Steve Maraboli
51. “And understanding begets empathy and compassion, even for the meanest beggar . . . ” — Christopher Paolini
52. “Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load.” — Charles H. Parkhurst
53. “On a bad day you also don’t need a lot of advice. You just need a little empathy and affirmation. You need to feel once again that other people have confidence in you.” — Anne Lamott
54. “The only way to truly help someone is to understand their pain.” — Unknown
55. “Empathy combined with stronger emotions leads to compassion.” — Elaine N. Aron
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56. “I believe that lack of empathy is behind many problems, and I believe that it’s disrupting our society. In Great Britain, there is a steady decline in the willingness to be truly generous, and by that I don’t mean monetary generosity, but friendship and sympathy for others.” — J. K. Rowling
57. “Empathy is the love fire of sweet remembrance and shared understanding.” — John Eaton
58. “Empathy helps people see the world as it really is, not how it looks on a map.” — Dev Patnaik
59. “Empathy requires knowing that you know nothing.” — Leslie Jamison
60. “Humankind seems to have an enormous capacity for savagery, for brutality, for lack of empathy, for lack of compassion.” — Annie Lennox
61. “Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” — Mohsin Hamid
62. “Sympathy is not about fixing someone; it’s about standing with them in their moment of need.” — Unknown
63. “Empathy is a skill like any other human skill. If you get a chance to practice, you can get better at it.” — Simon Baron Cohen
64. “To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own.” — Abraham Lincoln
65. “Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act.” — Eric Zorn
66. “One of the most beautiful ways to show love is by truly listening.” — Unknown
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67. “We are all connected by our humanity and our desire to care for one another.” — Elizabeth Edwards
68. “True sympathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and feeling their journey.” — Unknown
69. “Empathy can pull you away from your center, and it takes more of a mindful awareness to get back into that space.” — Jean Lush
70. “The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.” — Albert Schweitzer
71. “Empathy is a choice that we can make to step out of our own egos and into the shoes of another person.” — Ronald Rolheiser
72. “Sympathy is not weakness; it’s the greatest strength of the human soul.” — Unknown
73. “If you look into someone’s face long enough, eventually you’re going to feel that you’re looking at yourself.” — Paul Auster
74. “Sometimes the most comforting thing is not a solution but someone who simply understands.” — Unknown
75. “Looking at various means of developing compassion, I think empathy is an important factor: the ability to appreciate others’ suffering.” — Dalai Lama
76. “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” — John Holmes
77. “See the light in each other. Be the light for each other.” — Unknown
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78. “Our greatest joys and our deepest sorrows are inseparably connected to the joys and sorrows of others.” — Nicholas A. Christakis
79. “Let’s put ‘kind’ back into ‘humankind’.” — John Mark Green
80. “The world can always use more understanding hearts and kind words.” — Unknown
81. “The little things you do can be very significant to others.” — Wayne Gerard Trotman
82. “No one has ever become poor by giving.” — Anne Frank
83. “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know when it will be too late.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
84. “A sympathetic heart is like a spring of pure water bursting forth.” — Unknown
85. “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learned how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” — Nelson Mandela
86. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” — Mother Teresa
87. “We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.” — Carl Rogers
88. “Sympathy is the first step in the journey of compassion.” — Henri Nouwen
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89. “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” — Mother Teresa
90. “Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.” — J.K. Rowling
91. “Empathy, sympathy, love, and justice create a place only in such character, where humanity fragrances and tongue stays sober.” — Ehsan Sehgal
92. “People need people who show that they care.” — Richelle E. Goodrich
93. “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” — John Holmes
94. “Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart.” — José N. Harris
95. “There is no footprint so small that it does not leave an imprint on this world.” — Unknown
96. “Even the smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water—it will make ripples throughout the entire pond.” — Jessy and Bryan Matteo
97. “Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes.” — Steve Martin
98. “To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others.” — Anne-Sophie Swetchine
99. “Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.” — Unknown
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100. “No matter who we are, no matter how successful, no matter what our situation, compassion is something we all need to receive and give.” — Catherine Pulsifer
101. “The opposite of anger is not calmness, its empathy.” — Mehmet Oz
102. “Sympathy is the noblest of virtues.” — Oscar Wilde
103. “All around you are people whose lives are filled with trouble and sorrow, and they need your compassion and encouragement.” — Billy Graham
104. “Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” — Harold S. Kushner
105. “I am truly passionate and concerned about the lack of empathy that people show towards one another.” — David Cross
106. “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” — Dalai Lama
107. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” — Harper Lee
108. “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” — Ronald Reagan
109. “The more we diminish our own pain, or rank it compared to what others have survived, the less empathetic we are to everyone.” — Brené Brown
110. “Wearing another’s skin is the most effective way to learn sympathy.” — AG Howard
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Now, let’s share these amazing quotes on sympathy and empathy to help express love and kindness to those around us!
All I have left to say is that I hope you have a wonderful day!
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