«''Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to you.'' Look into your own heart, discover what it is that gives you pain, and then refuse, under any circomstance, whatsoever, to inflict that pain on anybody else. This is the Golden rule. This is the source of all morality. We should also be acutely aware of the centrality of compassion, in all the major world faiths. […] ou dethrone yourself from the center of your world, put another there and you transcend yourself; it brings you into the presence of what is beeing called God, Nirvana, Rama, Tao» (Karen Armstrong, transcript of a talk).

Compassion would be no more than tolerance were it not for its added desire for the good of the other: that first draft of love. Thus, compassion reinforces belonging, while tolerance may fade into indifference by limiting itself to a respect for rights. Compassion also involves not only an appreciation of difference, but a concern for the other that increases with their vulnerability: the greater their fragility, the greater our compassion must be. Indeed, our character will be measured by the extent of our adherence to this unwritten rule.


Source : 1001 Drawings (website)