Wise and inspirational quotations on love, compassion, and tolerance from contemporary religious leaders and spiritual mentors.
While it was surprisingly difficult to locate tolerant and loving wisdom from in-the-spotlight religious leaders – indeed, many of the messages being proliferated today center around separation, division, and being right – the messages of religious tolerance and love from progressive spiritual leaders, religious thinkers, and other influential individuals that are being fostered today are bright and shining examples of hope to guide us through fear, difficultly, and confusion.
Note, for interested readers, some of the names of religious leaders quoted below contain links to articles that provide additional contextual information.
Spiritual Quotes on Compassion and Love
The simple, timeless message of the Golden Rule – we should treat others as we would like to be treated – is found in various forms in religious traditions the world over. The teaching of love and compassion towards our fellow human beings is indeed at the core of various positive worldviews and religions at their best.
- “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” – Dalai Lama, Buddhist monk and head of the state of Tibet
- “Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.” – Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and atheist
- “The heart is an organ of perception." – Lama Surya Das, American Buddhist lama
- “Religion is caring, intensely, for God and for God's creation.” – Faraz Rabbani, Muslim scholar
Many reflective spiritual teachers and leaders emphasize the interrelatedness and interconnectedness of all people. In short, despite appearances often to the contrary, we are not so different from one another on a fundamental level.
- “Love is seeing God in the person next to us; meditation is seeing God within us.” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation
- “We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another." – Ram Dass (Richard Alpert), American spiritual teacher
- “One man said, ‘I looked at my brother through the microscope of criticism, and I said, ‘How coarse my brother is.’ Then I looked at my brother through the telescope of scorn, and I said, ‘How small my brother is.’ Then I looked into the mirror of truth and I said, ‘How like me my brother is.’ " – Thomas S. Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- "The sun shines down, and its image reflects in a thousand different pots filled with water. The reflections are many, but they are each reflecting the same sun. Similarly, when we come to know who we truly are, we will see ourselves in all people." – Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi Devi), Hindu spiritual teacher
- “We all are one by virtue of the same life force flowing through us.” – Bizah, Hindu teacher affiliated with Namaste Publishing
- “A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons.” – Desmond Tutu, Christian bishop and South African activist
- "There is greatness in doing something you hate for the sake of someone you love." – Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
- “If we're ever going to collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we're going to have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.” – Wilma Mankiller, chief of the Cherokee Nation
- “The only way you can serve God is by serving other people.” – Rick Warren, evangelical Christian minister
- “If you and I are having a single thought of violence or hatred against anyone in the world at this moment, we are contributing to the wounding of the world.” – Deepak Chopra, spiritual teacher and writer
- "You can disagree with another person's opinions. You can disagree with their doctrines. You can't disagree with their experience." – Krista Tippett, host of radio program On Being
- "We are stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share." – Rania Al-Abdullah, Muslim woman and queen of Jordan
The final category of religious quotations deals with global issues. These observations underscore the causes of religious misunderstanding, persecution, and discrimination. Spiritual teachers and activists recommend ways to deal with these challenges.
- “I used to think that I, and other Christians like me, had a monopoly on God. ... What we knew about God was not only right, but what others knew was wrong or at best inferior to our knowledge of him. … I have … come to the conclusion there may be a lot of knowledge about God in all religions, but there may be only a few people in any religion who ever actually know God.” – Dr. Steve McSwain, interfaith spiritual activist
- "America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. ... And they need to be treated with respect. In respect. Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That’s not the America I know. That’s not the America I value." – George W. Bush, former President of the United States
- “Today, I, too, wish to reaffirm that I intend to continue on the path toward improved relations and friendship with the Jewish people, following the decisive lead given by John Paul II.” – Pope Benedict XVI
- “For many people religion is a rigid concept, somewhat like a stone that is passed from generation to generation. We don't add to it, change it, or challenge it; we just pass it along. But even the most cursory study of the history of religions would undermine such a view. Religious traditions are far more like rivers than stones.” – Diane L. Eck, professor of comparative religion and director of Harvard University’s religious program, the Pluralism Project
- “We who practice the Christian tradition understand [Jesus Christ] as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.” – Katharine Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States
- "We can either emphasize those aspects of our traditions, religious or secular, that speak of hatred, exclusion, and suspicion or work with those that stress the interdependence and equality of all human beings. The choice is yours." – Karen Armstrong, scholar and writer who focuses on religious topics
- “I was told to challenge every spiritual teacher, every world leader to utter the one sentence that no religion, no political party, and no nation on the face of the earth will dare utter: 'Ours is not a better way, ours is merely another way.’ ” – Neale Donald Walsch, spiritual teacher and writer
- “I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.” – Barack Obama, President of the United States
- “In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.” – Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and peace activist
- “I understand hell in two ways. First, there is the this-worldly hell I make for myself and others when I fail to act justly and with compassion. Second, there is the other-worldly hell invented by bullies who delight in sadistic fantasies of endless torture and use these fantasies to frighten others into yielding to their will. I take both hells very seriously.” – Rabbi Rami Shapiro
- "Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: Evolve or die. … If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction." – Eckhart Tolle, spiritual teacher and writer
Sources
- 50 Inspiring Religious Leaders You Should Follow on Twitter, OnlineChristianColleges.net. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- Quotes, BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
- Quotes, ThinkExist.com. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
Copyright Aimee Larsen Stoddard. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Aimee Larsen Stoddard - Aimee is a professional writer/editor. She has a BA in English and is currently completing an MS in Theology.
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