Compassion is a quality everyone should obtain throughout their lives. We are taught compassion by our elders, our peers and even through modern day technological advancements in social media. Compassion is having sympathy for the misfortunes of others. Not only is it important to be compassionate to your loved ones, but to strangers as well, because as Steve Maraboli once said “it only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last a lifetime”. Whenever you need a reminder as to why helping others, and showing love and compassion is important, the following quotes are a must read.

• “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” –Mother Teresa
• “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” –Dalai Lama XIV
• “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” –John Holmes
• “Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.” –R.J. Palacio
• “Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it’s at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.” –Sam Levenson
• “I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.” –Albert Camus
• “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” –Aesop
• “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
• “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” –Maya Angelou
• “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” –Dalai Lama XIV
• “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” –Steve Maraboli
• “And when I came in with tears in my eyes, you always knew whether I needed you to hold me or just let me be. I don’t know how you knew, but you did, and you made it easier for me.” –Nicholas Sparks
• “I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.” –Mother Teresa
• “If a man cannot understand the beauty of life, it is probably because life never understood the beauty in him.”–Criss Jami
• “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” –Guatama Buddha
• “That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.” –Simone de Beauvoir
• “Our task must be to free ourselves…by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.” –Albert Einstein
• “One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls.” –Jack Kerouac
• “If a person seems wicked, do not cast him away. Awaken him with your words, elevate him with your deeds, repay his injury with your kindness. Do not cast him away; cast away his wickedness.” –Lao Tzu
• “We all are so deeply interconnected; we have no option but to love all. Be kind and do good for any one and that will be reflected. The ripples of the kind heart are the highest blessings of the Universe.” –Amit Ray

Maybe one day everyone will possess the quality of compassion, but that will only happen with your help. For everyone to show compassion, one person must start, then from there on everyone else can pat it forward. So I challenge you to look on the bright side, always have a smile on your face, and make sure to bring joy into someones life today, they might go ahead and pass it on. One man can begin to change the world.