I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I have nothing but sympathy for how people behave – and nothing but laughter to console them with. – John Irving
In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications must remain in the dark. An invented figure like Anna Karenina or Emma Bovary emerges fully into the light of understanding, which brings with it identification, sympathy and pity. – John Updike
Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
It’s not very interesting to establish sympathy for people who, on the surface, are instantly sympathetic. I guess I’m always attracted to people who, if their lives were headlines in a newspaper, you might not be very sympathetic about them. – John Irving
AI don’t make a big thing out of my race. If you try to preach, people give you a little sympathy and then they want to get out of the way. So you don’t preach; you tell the story. – Jim Brown
I very much dislike the intolerance and moralism of many Christians, and feel more sympathy with Honest Doubters than with them. – A. N. Wilson
Sympathy for victims is always counter-balanced by an equal and opposite feeling of resentment towards them. – Ben Elton
It’s hard for me to think of others because I’m not particularly in sympathy with the music of this century. – Alan Hovhaness
I have several close friends who are insomniacs. Over the years, I’ve heard their stories about being up in the middle of the night, completely awake. I see them yawn at 11 A.M. and know that, regardless of what they are doing, they’d probably rather be in bed sleeping. I’ve always had sympathy for them, but I’ve never really understood it. – Brad Feld
When men are arrested without any legal basis and for political reasons, it’s merely a routine, everyday occurrence in Russia, and hardly anyone has any sympathy. – Alexei Navalny
Sometimes, in the midst of a tragedy like the Newton massacre, we witness incredible acts of valor, tenderness, grace, and decency. We saw it from Sandy Hook Elementary School’s teachers, students, and parents, as well as from their community and country. The outpouring of sympathy and help has been touching and, at times, inspiring. – Campbell Brown
I think we lost a great deal of sympathy and support with the way in which the crisis was handled, most importantly I think when we appeared to be grasping for too much at one time instead of identifying our priorities in a much more responsible fashion. – Billy Tauzin
I don’t want to be entertained. I don’t want visuals or musicals. I don’t want a vacation. I don’t want to quit. I don’t want sympathy. The cry of my heart is ‘Just Give Me Jesus.’ – Anne Graham Lotz
I am the son of a small and far-away nation and the other laureates have all come from different countries from all over the world and we all were equally received here with signs of sympathy. – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets. The rich and the poor. – Benjamin Disraeli
The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others. – Albert Schweitzer
I feel sympathy for the working class lad. I’ve always championed about ticket prices and try to equate that to people’s salaries. – Alex Ferguson
I would rather be kept alive in the efficient if cold altruism of a large hospital than expire in a gush of warm sympathy in a small one. – Aneurin Bevan
I don’t care about sympathy. I care about playing a character who’s understandable and clear. – Anson Mount
My mother listened to all the news from the camp during the strike. She said little, especially when my father or the men who worked for him were about I remember her instinctive and unhesitating sympathy for the miners. – Agnes Smedley
I have a lot of sympathy for young people because I realize how disturbed I was. How would I deal with life in the future? What would I do for a living? – Clyde Tombaugh
Women ought to feel a peculiar sympathy in the colored man’s wrong, for, like him, she has been accused of mental inferiority, and denied the privileges of a liberal education. – Angelina Grimke
I have nothing but sympathy for the people who are forced to work with me. I’m better now at picking out those that want to play that game with me, and those that don’t. – Alton Brown
