Quotations for reflections

Quotations

All the versions of this article: es pt

- About Christmas having been kidnapped
- About the media and the administration of justice
- About empathy and compassion

About Christmas having been kidnapped

Christmas has been kidnapped by commercial zeal. It seems that Christmas is about rushing after little lights, crowding shopping malls that are open until 4 am, everybody in a rush. Instead of worrying about how we will spend it, that is, what to buy, who to invite, where to go, we should just let Christmas take place, happen. It would make no sense to have a celebration, eat panettone and toast with sparkling cider if we did not take time to think what we are celebrating and why we are extending one another our best wishes.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio

About the media and the administration of justice

People, in general, tend to think that an individual who commits a crime has to be in prison, regardless of whether there is or there is not a conviction. Yet, if there is no conviction, how can we know who committed the crime? Then, people say, "But everybody knows who committed the crime”. Of course, by "everybody knows", they mean, "the media say..."

Ricardo Guilbourg

About empathy and compassion

Empathy is the natural ability to share and value other people’s feelings. It is a necessary though not sufficient condition for compassion. The former is centered in one’s own, the latter, in the other.

Jean Decety