“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds.”
The Gospel of Luke, c. 85 AD · the parable of the good Samaritan
Chapter 3
On Compassion
“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him.”
Adam Smith, 1759 · Scottish moral philosopher
“For Mercy has a human heart; Pity, a human face; And Love, the human form divine: And Peace the human dress.”
William Blake, 1789 · English poet and engraver
“What doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
The Book of Micah, c. 700 BC · Hebrew prophet of the eighth century before the common era
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
The Gospel of Matthew, c. 80 AD · the Beatitudes
“Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind.”
Prophet Muhammad, c. 850 AD · narrated by Jarir bin Abdullah
“Anyone who destroys one life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed an entire world; and anyone who saves one life is as if he saved an entire world.”
The Mishnah, c. 200 AD · rabbinic instruction to witnesses in capital cases
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
The Gospel of Luke, c. 85 AD · the Sermon on the Plain
“Mercy is a sweet gracious working in love, mingled with plenteous pity: for mercy worketh in keeping us, and mercy worketh turning to us all things to good.”
Julian of Norwich, 1395 · English anchoress and mystic
Training people to feel another's pain increased their distress. Training the same people in compassion reversed it, raising positive feeling and lighting up brain regions tied to warmth and affiliation.
Olga Klimecki and colleagues, 2014 · brain imaging study of empathy training and compassion training
Two weeks of compassion practice made adults measurably more generous to a stranger they had never met, and the size of the change tracked shifts in how their brains handled the sight of suffering.
Helen Weng and colleagues, 2013 · randomized study of short-term compassion training
Adults who practised wishing others well reported more good days, and those days built real resources: attention, purpose, social support, and finally greater satisfaction with life.
Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues, 2008 · field experiment on loving-kindness meditation
Free to read, always. Liking a verse or leaving a comment happens in the app, so the conversation has a name attached to it.