quotations about sympathy
It is said that the wounded deer sheds tears; but it belongs to man only, to "weep with them that weep," and by sympathy to divide another's sorrows, and double another's joys.
THOMAS GUTHRIE
Gems of Illustration from the Sermons and Other Writings of Thomas Guthrie
How softly the tear of sympathy falls on the heart bruised and broken with sorrow! It assures the sad and weeping soul that it is not alone in a wilderness of cold hearts; that there are those who can feel for the troubles of others; and oh! what is more cheering to an aching heart than such a thought?
WILLIS GIEST
"The Tear of Sympathy", The Mourner's Friend; Or, Sighs of Sympathy for Those who Sorrow
Though sympathy can't alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.
BRAM STOKER
Dracula
Sympathy is a currency for losers.
MIKE FREEMAN
"As Rumors Swirl, the Browns' Pick at No. 1 Has NFL and Other Teams Concerned", Bleacher Report, April 14, 2017
Never elated while one man's oppress'd;
Never dejected while another's blessed.
ALEXANDER POPE
An Essay on Man
To be without sympathy is to be alone in the world--without friends or country, home or kindred.
CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought
Sympathy is when you feel sorry for someone. Compassion is when you do something about it.
JONAH GOLDBERG
"The Dangers of Empathy", National Review, May 5, 2017
The secrets of life are not shown except to sympathy and likeness.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Representative Men
Sympathy is as lightning; it is quick as thought; it waits not to make its selections; it is irrespective of considerations, and of partialities, and of tastes, and of cold prudence.
ISAAC TAYLOR
attributed, Day's Collacon
There is poetry and there is beauty in real sympathy; but there is more -- there is action. The noblest and most powerful form of sympathy is not merely the responsive tear, the echoed sigh, the answering look; it is the embodiment of the sentiment in actual help.
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
The man who melts
With social sympathy, though not allied,
Is of more worth than a thousand kinsmen.
EURIPIDES
Orestes
Human sympathy is a dear bargain. God waits outside till our company has gone.
DANIEL CONSIDINE
"God is Shy: Waiting and wanting in Advent", America: The Jesuit Review, December 3, 2015
Sympathy just doesn't mean
That much to me
Compassion's not
The fashion in my mind
And if you're looking for
A shoulder to cry on
Don't turn your head my way
'Cause I'd rather have
My music any day
URIAH HEEP
"Sympathy"
Sympathy is an openness in which the sorrow or joy lived by another is immediately and directly perceivable and meaningful in and through the body. The fact that the life lived by another is immediately and directly perceivable in his body does not mean that sympathy is caused by the mere encounter with another or that sympathy is the result of empirical observation. Sympathy is not called forth as the conclusion of a reasoning process which could be decided one way or another. Concretely, sympathy indicates a change of disposition or heart. This change is spontaneous and creative. Sympathy is a function which opens a man towards another man as this man living this life.
A. R. LUTHER
Persons in Love: A Study of Max Scheler's Wesen und Formen der Sympathie
For I no sooner in my heart divin'd,
My heart, which by a secret harmony
Still moves with thine, joined in connection sweet.
JOHN MILTON
Paradise Lost
He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
The Deserted Village
Sympathy is bliss; in it is revealed the highest, purest blessedness. It is divine, for in its reciprocal light all thought of self is lost, and there remains only the pure joy of oneness with others.
JAMES ALLEN
Byways to Blessedness
There are some men and women whose sympathies for others' pains are as quick as the consciousness of their own; who feel a personal relief from suffering when others are relieved; and to whose ear the song of the captive ransomed from guilt is sweeter than a thousand-voiced chorus, pealing their own praises. These are the god-like.
HORACE MANN
Thoughts
The greatest pleasures of which the human mind is susceptible are the pleasures of consciousness and sympathy.
WILLIAM GODWIN
The Enquirer
Once you take the time to consider the other person's perspective, you will become sympathetic to his feelings and ideas. You will be able to authentically and honestly say, "I don't blame you for feeling as you do. If I were in your position, I would feel just as you do."
DALE CARNEGIE
How to Win Friends and Influence People