For me, empathy is an existential question - it's about the survival of the human race. That is, it's imperative for us to overcome the challenges we face.
I'm really interested in how people face existential crises and either overcome them or don't, and in how the human psyche responds.
Fiction challenges us and works its miracles by placing us in the skin of another human being and teaching us empathy.
Truly, the challenges we face are not Democratic challenges or Republican challenges. In fact, they are not political challenges at all; they are fiscal challenges, and educational challenges, and the challenges of figuring out how to take care of each other.
Truly, the challenges we face are not Democratic challenges or Republican challenges. In fact, they are not political challenges at all; they are fiscal challenges, and educational challenges, and the challenges of figuring out how to take care of each other...
There has to be a protagonist who has to overcome challenges, and there will be a race to finish.
But it is imperative, for our own survival, that we avoiid one another, and what more successful means of avoidance are there than words? Language will keep us safe from human onslaught, will express for us our regret at being unable to supply groceries or love or peace.
Many of the people I know and that you know are very complex human beings, and it's not all about race. Everything isn't a question of race. Everything isn't a question of economics at the very base level.
Throughout the journey of my life, I have maintained a strong faith in the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity. I deeply believe in one's own positive will to overcome even the most daunting challenges.
There's going to be different kinds of challenges on a yearly basis. You're going to have to overcome injuries, or you overcome a playoff loss or what have you. So there's always challenges in this business.
Every day, we as athletes face several challenges during the training process, and it is imperative that we approach each situation carefully and with continued precision.
I've always been interested, since graduate school, in why some children wilt and shrink back from challenges and give up in the face of obstacles, while others avidly seek challenges and become even more invested in the face of obstacles. So this has been my primary question for over 40 years.
Everyone is going to face challenges. What defines you is how you overcome those.
The empathy I found reading 'Heidi' and 'Little Women' is empathy we have as human beings that can feed all of our souls. We have our differences, but we're all so similar in our humanness. So those stories about young girls overcoming meant a lot to me and gave me hope.
Being an immigrant and staring life over, you learn to be a survivor and how to face your challenges and basically overcome them. And that has been a great skill set that I've developed and has helped me in my career.
I just want to share with everyone that no matter what challenges, adversities you face in life, that you can overcome them... and once you overcome those adversities, use your story, your testimony to others, to help others get through their storm.
Compassion allows us to understand that, as citizens of the planet, we’re all in this together and that in order to ensure our survival we must hold and cultivate a new and larger vision of what’s possible for ourselves and for the human race as a whole.