60+ Empath Quotes to Empower Your Sensitive Side

Empaths are people who are highly aware of the emotions of the people around them, to the point where they absorb these feelings and emotions as their own.

It’s very easy for empaths to feel physically and emotionally overwhelmed by life.

That’s why I’ve carefully created this list of the most inspirational empath quotes to empower you.

60 Empath Quotes That Will Inspire You

Woman lighting sage and learning about the best empath quotes

“I understand now that I’m not a mess but a deeply feeling person in a messy world. I explain that now, when someone asks me why I cry so often, “For the same reason I laugh so often – because I’m paying attention.
– Glennon Doyle Melton

As an affiliate partner of various brands and sponsored content, we may earn commission on qualifying purchases. Disclaimer | Advertise With Us

“Derived from the Greek word “em” (in) and “pathos” (feeling), the term “empath” refers to a person who is able to “feel into” the feelings of others.”
– Mateo Sol

“As an empath, it’s vital that you learn how to hold space for your emotions, even the most painful ones. By anchoring yourself in your breath, you can learn how to witness the emotional energy of others within you, without attaching yourself to these sensations.”
– Luna & Sol

“Empaths did not come into this world to be victims, we came to be warriors. Be brave. Stay strong. We need all hands on deck.”
– Anthon St. Maarten

“It is a blessing and a curse, to feel everything so deeply.”
– Unknown

“Being an empath is a huge asset when you learn to manage it.”
– Judith Orloff

“I believe empathy is the most essential quality of our civilization.”
– Roger Ebert

Related: 40 Powerful Self-Worth Quotes

“Empaths are absorbers, not observers. When you just observe, you are no longer an empath but just a sympath.”
– Monika Chhetri

“Create boundaries. Honor your limits. Say no. Take a break. Let go. Stay grounded. Nurture your body. Love your vulnerability. And if all else fails, breathe deeply.”
– Aletheia Luna

“Speaking the truth is often a struggle for an Empath. The last thing they want to do is cause pain or conflict for others.”
– Judi Eisner

“I want us to organize, to tell the personal stories that create empathy, which is the most revolutionary emotion.”
– Gloria Steinem

“Empathy takes time, and efficiency is for things, not people.”
– Stephen Covey

“Highly sensitive people are too often perceived as weaklings or damaged goods. To feel intensely is not a symptom of weakness, it is the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate. It is not the empath who is broken, it is society that has become dysfunctional and emotionally disabled. There is no shame in expressing your authentic feelings. Those who are at times described as being a ‘hot mess’ or having ‘too many issues’ are the very fabric of what keeps the dream alive for a more caring, humane world. Never be ashamed to let your tears shine a light in this world.”
– Anthon St. Maarten

“We empaths have many marvelous traits. We have huge hearts and the instinct to help others in need or who are less fortunate.”
– Judith Orloff

“One of the greatest advantages of being an empath is that experiencing a spiritual awakening is virtually inevitable. In other words, spiritually awakening seems to be written into our DNA.”
– Aletheia Luna

“An empath is capable of taking on the grief of another in order to lessen their suffering. In order to not be consumed with pain, an empath should have an outlet for that pain lest they lose themselves in feeling for others.”
– Donna Lynn Hope

“I thought perhaps she was crazy but she was only highly intuitive.”
– Carl Jung

“Being an empath is like seeing with the soul.”
– Dean Koontz

“Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.”
– Alfred Adler

“Highly sensitive people (empaths) suffer more but they also love harder, dream wider, and experience deeper horizons and bliss. When you’re sensitive, you’re alive in every sense of the word in this wildly beautiful world. Sensitivity is your strength. Keep soaking in the light, and spreading it to others.”
– Victoria Erickson

“As an empath, we are not here to be sponges or enablers. We are here to be helpers, guides, and supporters.”
– Aletheia Luna

“Empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing.”
– Marshall B. Rosenberg

“Empaths travel the path of the heart. They are driven by the desire for transcendental love, connection, passion, and service to others.”
– Sherrie Dillard

“The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding.”
– Bill Bullard

“Never underestimate the empowered empath. Our kindness and compassion are too often mistaken for weakness or naivety, while we are in fact highly calibrated human lie detectors…and fearless warriors for truth and justice.”
– Anthon St. Maarten

“When you’re deeply sensitive, love is ecstasy. Music is godlike. Heartache is a wide, somatic wound. Visual natural beauty is jewel-drenched, wild bliss. Tension and conflict are muscle tightening and toxic, straight down to the cells.”
– Victoria Erickson

“You can be a good person with a kind heart and still say no.”
– Unknown

“I may be sensitive, but that allows me to know exactly how you’re feeling, what you’re planning, and what your biggest fears are. So, don’t underestimate me.”
– Luna & Sol

“You cannot make everyone think and feel as deeply as you do. This is your tragedy as an empath. Because you understand them, but they do not understand you.”
– Daniel Saint

“Empaths have to be careful not to internalize others’ feelings, as this can cause them to feel anxious, sad, or even depressed. It can leave the empath feeling drained or exhausted. They must learn to set boundaries so as not to let toxic people drain them dry.”
– Donna G. Bourgeois

“If we could look into each other’s heart and understand the unique challenge s each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care.”
– Marvin J. Ashton

“The sad thing that many of us empaths don’t realize is that often our desire to heal others is a disguised cry for help for our own healing. Because many of us weren’t taught how to value or nurture ourselves at a young age, we tend to unconsciously seek out our own healing in the healing of others.”
– Mateo Sol

“Empaths have often been labeled as ‘overly sensitive’ and told to ‘get a thicker skin.’ As children and adults, we are shamed for our sensitivities rather than supported… But at this point in my life, I wouldn’t give up being an empath for anything. It lets me sense the secrets of the universe and know passion beyond my wildest dreams.”
– Judith Orloff

“Be kinder to yourself, and then let your kindness flood the world.”
– Pema Chodron

“Empaths should be treasured. They love deeply and think deeply about life. They are loyal, honest, and true. The simple things someone mean the most to them. They don’t need to change or harden. Their purity makes them who they really are.”
– Unknown

“Never apologize for being sensitive or emotional. Let this be a sign that you’ve got a big heart and aren’t afraid to let others see it. Showing your emotions is a sign of strength.”
– Brigitte Nicole

empath quotes to inspire kindness — Pin this!

“Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It’s the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else’s pain is as meaningful as your own.”
– Barbara Kingsolver

“Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person”
– William Fritz

“Now, more than ever, our society is in need of sensitive and empathic people. Now, more than ever, the human race needs to go inwards and connect with the Soul again. As natural-born healers, intuitives, and mentors, it is not only our responsibility but also our destiny to help humanity heal.”
– Aletheia Luna

“Empaths process information about their environments-both physical and emotional-unusually deep. They tend to notice subtleties that others miss-another person’s shift in mood, say, or a lightbulb burning a touch too brightly.”
– Susan Cain

“Empathy is simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of “you’re not alone”.”
– Brene Brown

“Rather than fearfully shutting down your sensitivity, dive in deeper into all possible feelings. As you expand, keep only those who are not afraid of oceans.”
– Victoria Erickson

“I’m not weak or a mess. I’m a deeply feeling person in a messy world. It takes strength to face and feel what few other people have the courage to acknowledge”
– Luna & Sol

“We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.”
– Alan Watts

“Empaths tend to be philosophical or spiritual in their orientation, rather than materialistic or hedonistic. They dislike small talk. They often describe themselves as creative or intuitive. They dream vividly, and can often recall their dreams the next day.”
– Susan Cain

“There is no shame in expressing your authentic feelings.”
– Anthon St. Maarten

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”
– Henry David Thoreau

“I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate – it’s apathy. It’s not giving a damn.”
– Leo Buscaglia

“Empathetic presence involves listening to someone’s pain with what I call the five A’s: Attention, Acceptance, Appreciation, Affection, and Allowing.”
– David Richo

“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.”
– Daniel H. Pink

“The struggle of my life created empathy – I could relate to pain, being abandoned, having people not love me.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest…a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a person nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
– Albert Einstein

“Sensitivity isn’t being wimpy. It’s about being so painfully aware that a flea landing on a dog is like a sonic boom. I enjoy a lot of mystery.”
– Jeff Buckley

“Empaths are sensitive individuals, very much in tune with what’s going on inside & outside of them. Awake empaths will distance themselves from you the moment they pick up a bad vibe. If you ever hurt them, they will withdraw themselves.”
– Unknown

“I’m a passionate person; a lot is going on underneath my carousel of blazers: a cauldron of sensitivity and emotion.”
– Sue Perkins

“You speak to me with words and I look at you with feelings”
– Unknown

“Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.”
– Mohsin Hamid

“The agony of the empath is feeling their pain but being unable to save them from it.”
– Donna Lynn Hope

“There’s nothing that inspires that deep sense of belonging like shared empathy!”
– Brene Brown

“Empathy is the medicine the world needs.”
– Judith Orloff

60+ Empath Quotes to Empower Your Sensitive Side – Conclusion

Hopefully, after reading through these empath quotes I’ve inspired you to either be more empathetic or to embrace your empathy and sensitivity.

Ultimately, the capacity to view situations through another person’s eyes and empathize with their feelings is a crucial aspect of our social interactions.

Without empathy, I can’t even imagine what our entire world would look like.