Sharing empathy quotes for kids is an easy and engaging way to help your child understand the feelings of others. When they can access those emotions and step into someone else’s shoes, they’ll build stronger relationships, friendships, and communities with others.
Moreover, by learning to see the world through someone else’s eyes, your child can become a more compassionate and confident individual.
So, whether you practice this skill by reading a story together or chatting about their day, teaching empathy helps your child grow into a caring person who can make a difference!
To help you introduce empathy to your child, we’ve gathered some of our favorite empathy quotes for kids.
Key Takeaways
- Just like reading or math, empathy is a “muscle” that gets stronger the more your child practices it.
- Empathy isn’t just feeling sorry for someone. It’s truly understanding how they feel by “stepping into their shoes.”
- Empathy is an important life skill and serves as the glue that holds relationships, friendships, and communities together.
- Teach lessons about empathy by leaving a quote in their lunchbox or posting a quote of the day (or week) on the refrigerator.
- Developing a kind heart is a key part of your child’s growth and success, both in school and at home.
Table of Contents
What Is Empathy, and Why Does It Matter?
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, so it’s much more than just being nice to others. When your child can empathize with another person, they effectively put themselves in the other person’s shoes.
But did you know that there are actually two types of empathy? They are cognitive empathy and affective empathy. Think of them as two sides of the same coin.
Cognitive Empathy
Cognitive empathy is the “knowing” part, where your child uses their brain to deduce (i.e., think logically or reason about) what someone else might be thinking or why they’re acting in a certain way.
Your child doesn’t necessarily feel those emotions themselves (that’s the other type of empathy), but they understand that their friend does.
Affective Empathy
Affective empathy is the ability to actually feel the same emotions that someone else is experiencing.
So, affective empathy goes a step beyond cognitive empathy and causes your child to feel the disappointment, sadness, and worry that their friend is feeling. Your child isn’t just thinking about their friend’s day; they’re experiencing a piece of it with them.
Why Does Empathy Matter?
Empathy matters because it’s an important life skill that serves as the glue that holds relationships, friendships, and communities together.
When your child learns to see, and even feel, the world through someone else’s eyes, they develop the understanding that their actions have an impact on the people around them. That moves them to become better listeners, more helpful teammates, and more confident leaders.
Empathy isn’t something that young children understand or exhibit right away. Why? Because empathy deals with complex emotions that they may not be able to identify or handle yet.
The good news is that, with a little practice, you can teach your child this important life skill so that they can recognize empathy when it occurs and strengthen their ability to “flex” it like a muscle when the time is right!
Every time you read a story together, ask your child, “How do you think that character felt?” This gives them an empathy workout and allows them to experience empathy in a more controlled environment.
Another easy way to build empathy is to include empathy quotes for kids in your daily routine. In the next section, we’ve listed some of our favorites.
Empathy Quotes for Kids
1) “You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” (John Steinbeck)
2) “The opposite of anger is not calmness. It’s empathy.” (Mehmet Oz)
3) “Empathy grows as we learn.” (Alice Miller)
4) “Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.” (Mohsin Hamid)
5) “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.” (Dr. Seuss, The Lorax)
6) “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” (Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!)
7) “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” (A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh)
8) “Always try to be a little kinder than necessary.” (J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan)
9) “Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” (A.A. Milne)
10) “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.” (E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web)
11) “Kindness is a muscle that gets stronger the more you use it.” (Jonathan Safran Foer)
12) “Real strength has to do with helping others.” (Mr. Rogers)
13) “Have courage and be kind.” (Cinderella)
14) “Being there when others need you, that’s what friends are for.” (Moshi Stories)
15) “Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody.” (Kid President)
16) “If you can’t think of anything nice to say, you’re not thinking hard enough.” (Kid President)
17) “Empathy is a hand outstretched in the darkness, saying, ‘You’re not alone.’” (Pádraig Ó Tuama)
18) “Listening is where love begins: listening to ourselves and then to our neighbors.” (Mr. Rogers)
19) “Our choices show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” (Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter)
20) “A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” (William Arthur Ward)
21) “Be a buddy, not a bully.” (Charmaine Hammond)
22) “If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.” (Dolly Parton)
23) “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” (Jennifer Dukes Lee)
24) “The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” (Meryl Streep)
25) “When you start to develop your powers of empathy… the whole world opens up to you.” (Susan Sarandon)
26) “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” (Maya Angelou)
27) “I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” (Maya Angelou)
28) “Leadership is about empathy.” (Oprah Winfrey)
29) “Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?” (Henry David Thoreau)
30) “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” (Conan O’Brien)
31) “No one has ever become poor by giving.” (Anne Frank)
32) “Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes… that’s how peace begins.” (Barack Obama)
33) “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
34) “Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding.” (Albert Einstein)
35) “We rise by lifting others.” (Robert Ingersoll)
36) “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” (Simone Weil)
37) “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.” (Jesse Jackson)
38) “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
39) “A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” (William Arthur Ward)
40) “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” (Mother Teresa)
41) “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” (Mahatma Gandhi)
42) “Whatever affects you directly, affects all indirectly.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
43) “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” (Plato)
44) “If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.” (Booker T. Washington)
45) “Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us.” (R.J. Palacio, Wonder)
46) “Kindness is a gift that everyone can afford to give.” (Optimus Prime, Transformers)
47) “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” (Stitch, Lilo & Stitch)
48) “If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” (Turkish Proverb)
49) “I never thought of it that way. I guess I’ll have to look at it from your point of view.” (Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story)
50) “Love is putting someone else’s needs before yours.” (Olaf, Frozen)
Build a Kinder World with Begin
Using these empathy quotes for kids is a simple but powerful way to help your child build concern for others every single day.
Whether you’re hiding a Dr. Seuss quote in their lunchbox or chatting about Winnie the Pooh at dinner, these small moments add up to big changes in how your child sees the world.
At Begin, we believe that character is just as important as ABCs. Our tools, like the HOMER app and Learn with Sesame Street, are designed to help your child practice these essential social skills through play.
Together, we can raise a generation of caring, compassionate kids!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?
Sympathy is feeling sad because a friend lost their favorite toy (even though the friend may not be feeling sad).
Empathy is the ability to actually understand or share the feelings of another person, and is like stepping into their shoes for a few moments.
Both are skills that you can encourage and practice with your child.
At what age do children start developing empathy?
The seeds of empathy are planted when children are babies, and even toddlers can “comfort” others by offering their own blanket or teddy bear (though they certainly don’t understand empathy as a concept yet).
Complex empathy usually starts to develop between the ages of 3 and 6.
At what age should I start using quotes and affirmations with my kids?
Honestly, it’s never too early to start using quotes and affirmations with your kids. Even young babies can benefit from hearing you read a quote in an encouraging, upbeat way.
Start with simple quotes when your child is young, and introduce more complex quotes from favorite books or movies as they grow.
