Let’s start with an elemental understanding of what the words “compassion,” and “compassionate,” mean to most people. According to Merriam-Webster, compassion is a noun, defined as: “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” Some synonyms for compassion are: commiseration, feeling, and sympathy. Compassionate is […]
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia What makes a compassionate city/community? Kate White: A compassionate city is one where everyone feels they have a place, are included, welcome, important, valued and seen. I believe a compassionate city or community is one where anyone of any age is able to be safe, […]
Savannah, Georgia, USA Excellence Reporter: Aberjhani, what makes a compassionate city, or community? Aberjhani: Leaders and followers who recognize they are all participants in a partnership designed to ensure to the best of their ability the well-being of individuals, families, and humanity as a whole make a compassionate […]
Monterrey, Mexico Excellence Reporter: Mérida, what makes a compassionate city, or community? Mérida McCarthy: To me, a compassionate city is a caring city, where solidarity is the basis of all action. Where everyone in a city is looked after, taken care for, not only by the government, but […]
Birmingham, Alabama For the Golden Rule to thrive in society, we must awaken to the Oneness that we share as human beings. For if we perceive everyone as part of us, then can we truly have compassion for them. Loving others as we love ourselves is the first […]
Austin, Texas As I answer these questions about “What Makes a Compassionate City?” I reflect upon the following excerpt from a recent Charter for Compassion newsletter: The beauty of Cicero’s words is that we have a choice as to how we live this honorable life: “The best armor […]
Austin, Texas Excellence Reporter: Scott, what do you do to contribute to creating a more compassionate community and world? Scott Goyette: Compassion begins with me. Before all else, I must be compassionate with myself. Our world is a reflection of the individual, so without self-love, and personal compassion, it […]
Appleton, WI, USA I believe a compassionate community is one that acts and makes decisions in response to the recognition of needs within their community – needs that are common to humanity. The community orients itself to the idea of reciprocity – featuring common human values such as […]
Orange, CA, USA I have had the opportunity to live in several communities in my 67 years of life. As a child, in those formative years, I lived in Schenectady, New York and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania with summers spent at a family home on Tom’s Pond, New […]
Plymouth, UK I believe an effective compassionate city/community is one in which those dedicated to compassionate action come together to pool resources (including time, energy, vision and commitment) and create a visible core of practical positivity that others feel drawn to emulate; an alternative to the status quo, […]
Karen Armstrong’s quote that begins, “A Compassionate City is an uncomfortable city” is the fastest way to dispel the gross misunderstanding that compassion is a warm, soft, and consolatory expression and a City of Compassion is just a nice flag to wave over City Hall. It also states […]
Kyle, Texas ER: What makes a compassionate community? Gudjon Bergmann: On a bad day, people in a compassionate community will tolerate each other and help if the need arises. On a good day, people in a compassionate community will go out of their way to treat each other well and support those who […]
Bremerton, Washington As a Druid, I thought it appropriate to begin with an old story, as it is currently understood. It may provide a point of reference. Approximately 359 MYA a new group of species came to dominate the land–the first conifers. By using the newly manifested binder […]
Springfield, Missouri After 44-years of teaching and practicing participatory architecture, urban design, and community development and serving the past 15-years as the Director of the Hammons School of Architecture’s Center for Community Studies, I have witnessed first-hand many compassionate communities. To me, a compassionate community is one that […]
Baltimore, Maryland A community is made up of families and families are made of individuals. It follows that a compassionate community is made up of compassionate families. And compassionate families must have compassionate individuals at their root. One way that reflects the state of our emotional health and […]
Asheville, North Carolina ER: Dr. Foor, what makes a compassionate city/community? Daniel Foor: To be beneficial, compassion calls for community members to balance self-interest and care for others. We need to stay true to our own specific destiny and soul-level purpose while also seeking to uplift others in the […]
Sydney, Australia “Urbanization is the process by which rural communities grow to form cities, or urban centres, and, by extension, the growth and expansion of those cities. Urbanization began in ancient Mesopotamia in the Uruk Period (4300-3100 BCE) for reasons scholars have not yet agreed on. It is […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? Ballarat, Australia A compassionate city is made up of a critical mass of people who want to nurture and develop themselves in the recognition that they, and the world they live in, are all interdependent. Relating to each other with an awareness of […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY? Cambria, California Eye wide open and caring, are the first two steps to feed compassion where we live. With an understanding that I, as one person, cannot possibly bring well-being to all of those who hunger — those who hunger for love, shelter […]
ER: What makes a compassionate city/community In the spirit of practicing a more selfless regard for my comforts, conveniences or needs, I find I experience more peaceful contentment, and most of all, that my heart becomes softened, more tender, and more loving when helping others. When reaching out […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? The Berkshires, Massachusetts A compassionate city is a place where no one is excluded from the richness a community can offer. It is centered on providing spaces and places where people can connect – where mind, body and soul are nurtured through meaningful […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? Louisville, Kentucky True compassion is not an emotion or way of feeling. Rather it is a way of being toward others that involves two steps; first, listening to the needs and interests of others from where they live and second, responding to those […]
Patrick French: To my mind, compassion is one of the defining characteristics, or qualities, of being human — anyone who doesn’t have it can barely be called human. If you consider all the greatest stories about human beings, from the ancient times (stories like those of the Native […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? Louisville, Kentucky There was once a village led by a wise man. He was wise in commerce, but more importantly compassion. He also never really considered himself a governing leader, but only to help anyone to become their true Self. Although he had […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? by Ernie Brooks Everything! A compassionate community is everything, from the animals and humans to the nature and all things that exist in it, both living and static. We may simplify the definition of compassion to a few words, but compassion cannot be simply […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? by Vanessa F. Hurst Compassion is heart-centered. It is a strong desire to alleviate suffering whenever, wherever, and however it presents. A compassionate city is an aware city. It is an umbrella under which small and large, organized and personal, communal and personal […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? I believe compassion begins at the very root of ourselves, our inner being, our core. It begins by being kind to ourselves, taking care of our bodies and nourishing our spirits. A stable and happy individual is better able to serve others and […]
Excellence Reporter 