James O'Dea quotes

When we can really put ourselves in the shoes of the other, when we can reach new depths of empathy, then we can be effective ambassadors of peace.
-- James O'Dea

#Shoes #Empathy #Depth

Be courageous and face this moment in time consciously and with all the discernment and clarity within your power.
-- James O'Dea

#Mindfulness #Faces #Courageous

We get trapped and configured in patterns of consumption, patterns of social organization, of education and value systems that don't seem to be feeding that sense of our original being. We fight ourselves, repeating other people's games and being fed their appetites and their amusements.
-- James O'Dea

#Fighting #Games #Organization

When you're pregnant you just want to be comfortable - but I wear more or less the same as I do when I'm not pregnant: pregnancy denim with normal tops and flat shoes. But when the belly starts to really stick out, I'll want the floaty dresses!

Old friends, like old shoes, are comfortable. But old shoes, unlike old friends, tend not to be supportive: it is easier to stumble and sprain an ankle while wearing a pair of old shoes than it is in new shoes, with their less yielding leather.

The youngest children have a great capacity for empathy and altruism. There's a recent study that shows even 14-month-olds will climb across a bunch of cushions and go across a room to give you a pen if you drop one.

Art is food for the soul, and an artistic climate is a healthy climate because it breeds empathy.

Sometimes I'm asked by kids why I condemn ***** when I haven't tried it. The greatest obstetricians in the world have never been pregnant.

For most Americans the Constitution had become a hazy document, cited like the Bible on ceremonial occasions but forgotten in the daily transactions of life.

Mostly I make lists for projects. This can be daunting. Breaking something big into its constituent parts will help you organize your thoughts, but it can also force you to confront the depth of your ignorance and the hugeness of the task. That's OK. The project may be the lion, but the list is your whip.

The proof of the depth and embodiment of your realization will be seen in your love relationship. That's where the proof is in the pudding. If it all collapses in your relationship, you have some work to do. And people do have a lot of difficulties in their relationships.

Some people in your life Touch you so very deeply That you drown totally in that depth.

For me, the short story is the depth of a novel, the breadth of a poem, and, as you come to the last few paragraphs, the experience of surprise.