To die to our neighbors means to stop judging them, to stop evaluating them, and thus to become free to be compassionate. Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.

Henri J.m. Nouwen
Some Similar Quotes
  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. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

  3. Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. - Dalai Lama Xiv

  4. As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap... - Pythagoras

  5. I never lie, " I said offhand. "At least not to those I don't love. - Anne Rice

More Quotes By Henri J.m. Nouwen
  1. Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the...

  2. Every time we make the decision to love someone, we open ourselves to great suffering, because those we most love cause us not only great joy but also great pain. The greatest pain comes from leaving. When the child leaves home, when the husband or...

  3. The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it

  4. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and...

  5. Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part...

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