Compassion is the highest of all virtues. Moreover, charity is the offspring of compassion, which is the bond that knits all things together, high and low, and is the symbol of the highest power. Compassion is the great balm of life. She is the twin-sister of Love.
Compassion is the purest and noblest impulses of the human heart – that which uplifts us out of perishable dust, and rouses the dormant divinity within us; and defies all computation, all return in time and space.
Every noble action in the world has been stimulated by compassion. The worst enemy touched by its divine rays is transformed into a brother of your blood. The thunder’s might can destroy, but cannot sustain. The adamant can break, but cannot unite. The conquest of arms is insignificant when compared with the conquest of love. Enrich yourself then with the strength of compassion, for then shall the world be not afraid of you, nor you of the world; thereby shall you become the friend of all existence, through love made one with the life of the universe.
Compassion is the starting point of culmination. The test of real greatness lies in the extent to which we are prepared to feel others’ woe and to share our joys with them. Indeed, as justice is the starting point of virtue.