120 Best Compassion Quotes and Inspiration

Love, compassion and kindness are never wasted. Looking for the best compassion quotes? We’ve compiled a list of top 120 quotes and inspirations about compassion and kindness to help inspire you.

Top Compassion Quotes

“Compassion has certain vibration – vibration that resonates with the cosmos.” – Amit Ray

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer

“As the flower blooms in spring, compassion grows in mindfulness.” – Amit Ray

“Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.” – Confucius

“As I get older, the more I stay focused on the acceptance of myself and others, and choose compassion over judgment and curiosity over fear.” – Tracee Ellis Ross

“There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.” – John Connolly

“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” – Jack Kornfield

“Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.” – Pema Chodron

“Where there is no human connection, there is no compassion. Without compassion, then community, commitment, loving-kindness, human understanding, and peace all shrivel. Individuals become isolated, the isolated turn cruel, and the tragic hovers in the forms of domestic and civil violence. Art and literature are antidotes to that.” – Susan Vreeland

“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” – John Holmes

“When the Sun of compassion arises darkness evaporates and the singing birds come from nowhere.” – Amit Ray

“Until you have real compassion, you can not recognize love.” – Bob Thurman

“Compassion is to look beyond your own pain, to see the pain of others.” – Yasmin Mogahed

“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” – Pema Chödrön

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan

“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” – Dalai Lama

“Compassion is about giving all the love that you’ve got.” – Cheryl Strayed

“When you have learned compassion for yourself, compassion for others is automatic.” – Henepola Gunaratana

“Compassion is an action word with no boundaries.” – Prince

“Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.” – Dalai Lama

“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” – Albert Schweitzer

“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” – Steve Maraboli

“Compassion is a two way street.” – Frank Capra

“Compassion is at the heart of every little thing we do. It is the dearest quality we possess. Yet all too often it can be cast aside with consequences too tragic to speak of. To lose our compassion, we lose what it is to be human.”

“One of women’s greatest values is compassion.” – Safak Pavey

“Compassion is so pure, I don’t think there is any way to taint it.” – Chade-Meng Tan

“Let our hearts be stretched out in compassion toward others, for everyone is walking his or her own difficult path.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“Human it is to have compassion on the unhappy.” – Giovanni Boccaccio

“People need to have compassion for others.” – Frank Bruno

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” – Lao Tzu

“Compassion is the key to living outside the confines of your lower self.” – Debbie Ford

“It is sometimes difficult to view compassion and loving kindness as the strengths they are.” – Sharon Salzberg

“Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.” – William Cowper

“When compassion wakes up in us, we find ourselves more willing to become vulnerable, to take the risk of entering the pain of others.” – Sue Monk Kidd

“We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that.” – Ellen DeGeneres

“God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.” – Desmond Tutu

“Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.” – Thomas Merton

“Compassion knows that choosing the higher road in any situation is the most loving option for you.” – Debbie Ford

“Compassion, not passion, keeps a marriage together.” – Betty Wright

“Compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear.” – Joan Halifax

“Transform your pain to creative energy. This is the secrete of greatness.” – Amit Ray

“Compassion is no substitute for justice.” – Rush Limbaugh

“I think compassion is an important quality in people in general.” – Shannon Elizabeth

“This idea of compassion comes to us because we’re made in the image of God, who is ultimately the compassionate one.” – Jackie Tabick

“Compassion is more important than intellect in calling forth the love that the work of peace needs, and intuition can often be a far more powerful searchlight than cold reason.” – Betty Williams

“Compassion automatically invites you to relate with people because you no longer regard people as a drain on your energy.” – Chogyam Trungpa

“Reality is not so wild or chaos it has a grand plan. Compassion is the path of elevating our connection with the Supreme Being.” – Amit Ray

“Compassion challenges us to cry for those who are in pain and suffering. Compassion dares us to drive into the unknown where it can injure us.” – Amit Ray

“Strength and compassion are not mutually exclusive.” – Robert Kiyosaki

“It’s hard to practice compassion when we’re struggling with our authenticity or when our own worthiness is off-balance.” – Brene Brown

“God is compassion.” – Greg Boyle

“Most people are not good people. In business, in art, in almost every ‘world’ I’ve been in, most people I’ve meet are pretty gray to black. It takes practice to be the person who is a source of compassion and honesty.” – James Altucher

“Suddenly you realize that you are the mother of the Universe, eager to protect, transform and care every soul of the world.” – Amit Ray

“At the end of the day, love and compassion will win.” – Terry Waite

“True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also being moved to help relieve it.” – Daniel Goleman

“I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.” – Mo Yan

“Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.” – Dalai Lama

“Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” – Henry Ward Beecher

“I think we learn the most from imperfect relationships things like forgiveness and compassion.” – Andrea Thompson

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.” – Dalai Lama

“Compassion is contempt with a human face.” – John McCarthy

“I’m hopeful for a world with more love, acceptance, and compassion for others.” – Lily Alridge

“I work really hard at trying to see the big picture and not getting stuck in ego. I believe we’re all put on this planet for a purpose, and we all have a different purpose… When you connect with that love and that compassion, that’s when everything unfolds.” – Ellen DeGeneres

“We need the compassion and the courage to change the conditions that support our suffering. Those conditions are things like ignorance, bitterness, negligence, clinging, and holding on.” – Sharon Salzberg

“Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.” – Eric Hoffer

“Now that I understand that I’m an addict, I definitely have compassion for my mother. I get it.” – Eminem

“Compassion enables you to reach to the heavens and look through the heart of God.” – Debbie Ford

“Our task must be to free ourselve, by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.” – Albert Einstein

“Of course we have compassion. We just don’t believe the safety net should be used as a hammock.” – Allen West

“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” – Thomas Merton

“Compassion removes the walls of mistrust and builds bridges of hope, trust and beliefs.” – Amit Ray

“Compassion may be defined as the capacity to be attentive to the experience of others, to wish the best for others, and to sense what will truly serve others.” – Joan Halifax

“Compassion is a practically acquired knowledge, like dancing. You must do it and practice diligently day by day.” – Karen Armstrong

“Compassion has no place in the natural order of the world which operates on the basis of necessity. Compassion opposes this order and is therefore best thought of as being in some way supernatural.” – John Berger

“Wealth and compassion are opposites.” – Munshi Premchand

“Pets have more love and compassion in them than most humans.” – Robert Wagner

“Honesty is the quality I value most in a friend. Not bluntness, but honesty with compassion.” – Brooke Shields

“Compassion in evangelical churches is out of balance. When I talk about it, I get a lot of glazed expressions.” – Max Lucado

“The mind is no match with the heart in persuasion; constitutionality is no match with compassion.” – Everett Dirksen

“It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding.” – Erma Bombeck

“Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion towards ourselves and towards all living beings.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Let us unite the world through the compassion for our children.” – Kailash Satyarthi

“Compassion is a call, a demand of nature, to relieve the unhappy as hunger is a natural call for food.” – Joseph Butler

“The dew of compassion is a tear.” – Lord Byron

“Our compassion for one another, and our individual actions to help, is what makes our nation and our community great.” – Kevin Brady

“Compassion and empathy are anathema to sports.” – Steve Rushin

“The Lord will give you, if you ask, the feelings of the compassion He feels for those in need.” – Henry B. Eyring

“From compassion springs humility. The ego is verily a gateway to hell. The person who is egoistic is far from being religious.” – Dada Vaswani

“Make no judgements where you have no compassion.” – Anne McCaffrey

“It is my intention to live an authentic life of compassion and integrity and action.” – Zachary Quinto

“Some people are filled by compassion and a desire to do good, and some simply don’t think anything’s going to make a difference.” – Meryl Streep

“Some people seem to see compassion as being mushy.” – Laura Schlessinger

“I have mental illness in my family. I have a lot of compassion for those people.” – Mark Ruffalo

“Compassion is not a popular virtue.” – Karen Armstrong

“Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves.” – Mason Cooley

“Compassion isn’t morose; it’s something replenishing and opening; that’s why it makes us happy.” – Sharon Salzberg

“All religions try to benefit people, with the same basic message of the need for love and compassion, for justice and honesty, for contentment.” – Dalai Lama

“When we’re looking for compassion, we need someone who is deeply rooted, is able to bend and, most of all, embraces us for our strengths and struggles.” – Brene Brown

“You have to have empathy, knowledge and compassion for your characters if you’re a writer.” – Paul Haggis

“The church must always show compassion, always.” – Rick Warren

“I find the best way to love someone is not to change them, but instead, help them reveal the greatest version of themselves.” – Steve Maraboli

“Everyone deserves compassion.” – Michael Sheen

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

“I’m a pretty tough guy, you know. I’m a pretty hard man. I’ve got a lot of compassion, but I don’t waste time with people.” – Anthony Hopkins

“I think compassion is important but love fizzles out eventually. But if there is compassion in a relationship, things can always be worked out.” – Anushka Sharma

“Compassion is the basis of morality.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

“Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.” – Hubert H. Humphrey

“Compassion needs strength, but with all limitations, compassion is my God, my strength, and my song of life.” – Amit Ray

“In compassion, when we feel with the other, we dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and we put another person there.” – Karen Armstrong

“Compassion does not just happen. Pity does, but compassion is not pity. It’s not a feeling. Compassion is a viewpoint, a way of life, a perspective, a habit that becomes a discipline – and more than anything else, compassion is a choice we make that love is more important than comfort or convenience.” – Glennon Doyle Melton

“Everything I do as a mother builds on a foundation of love and compassion.” – Amy Chua

“Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering.” – Dalai Lama

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Unknown

“Compassion is loving others enough to say or do what is appropriate from an empowered heart without attachment to the outcome.” – Gary Zukav

“I think that the greatest lesson I learned from my father is just having compassion towards people.” – Laila Ali

“She has no imagination and that means no compassion.” – Michael Foot

“One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion.” – Dalai Lama

“A compassionate heart radiates rays of beauty that removes the clouds of million hearts.” – Amit Ray