Karen Armstrong Quotes & Sayings (Page 3)

“Compassion is not a popular virtue. Very often when I talk to religious people, and mention how important it is that compassion is the key, that it's the sine-qua-non of religion, people look kind of balked, and stubborn sometimes, as much to say, what's the point of having religion if you can't disapprove of other people?”

“Fundamentalists are not friends of democracy. And that includes your fundamentalists in the United States.”

“If we want to create a viable, peaceful world, we've got to integrate compassion into the gritty realities of 21st century life.”

“Pain is something that's common to human life. When we ignore it, we aren't engaging in the whole reality, and the pain begins to fester.”

“Every fundamentalist movement I've studied in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is convinced at some gut, visceral level that secular liberal society wants to wipe out religion.”

“Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage.”

“In the holy city of Mecca, violence of any kind was forbidden. From the moment they left home, pilgrims were not permitted to carry weapons, to swat an insect or speak an angry word, a discipline that introduced them to a new way of living.”

“It's a great event to get outside and enjoy nature. I find it very exciting no matter how many times I see bald eagles.”

“Let's use our stories to encourage listening to one another and to hear not just the good news, but also the pain that lies at the back of a lot of people's stories and histories.”

“Compassion doesn't, of course, mean feeling sorry for people, or pity, which is how the word has become emasculated in a way.”