--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Empathy - that is, caring about people…" description: "\"Empathy - that is, caring about people and acting responsibly on that care, not just for yourself, but for others - this is something that Barack Obama..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/george-lakoff-17996_acting_empathy-that-is-caring-about-people-and_2639858.jpg" --- # Empathy - that is, caring about people and acting… ![“Empathy - that is, caring about people and acting responsibly on that care, not just for yourself, but for others - this is something that Barack Obama understands very well. He was a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago for ten years. As an expert on the Constitution and…” quote by George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/george-lakoff-17996_acting_empathy-that-is-caring-about-people-and_2639858.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/george-lakoff-17996_acting_empathy-that-is-caring-about-people-and_2639858.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/george-lakoff-17996_acting_empathy-that-is-caring-about-people-and_2639858.jpg) > “Empathy - that is, caring about people and acting responsibly on that care, not just for yourself, but for others - this is something that Barack Obama understands very well. He was a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago for ten years. As an expert on the Constitution and on our family values, he understands very well that the country is fundamentally about caring for one another. The day after his speech, he was interviewed on CNN, and Anderson Cooper asked him what patriotism was. He said patriotism begins with caring for one another.” [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Patriotism is caring for fellow citizens, not just self‑interest. **In simple terms:** Patriotism = caring for others. Key Takeaway Prioritize community welfare. Themes civic duty empathy national identity social responsibility Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - public policy - community service - education - national discourse Key Concepts political theory psychology of morality Questions to Reflect On - How can empathy shape public policy? - What actions embody true patriotism? A Different Perspective Caring alone may not address systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Caring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caring/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Constitutional law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitutional-law/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Family Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-value/) [Family values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-values/) [Our family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-family/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [“Every time we replace anger with empathy and caring, we help a child become better prepared to make wise decisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fay/every-time-we-replace-anger-with-empathy-and-caring-we-help-a-child/) [Jim Fay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fay/) > [ “We are sometimes asked in the name of patriotism to forget the merits of this fearful struggle \[the Civil War\], and to remember with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/we-are-sometimes-asked-in-the-name-of-patriotism-to-forget-the-merits/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“Page 15, paperback version by Virago Press 1997: ... Let me ask you this, Mr Ai: do you know, by your own experience, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/page-15-paperback-version-by-virago-press-1997-let-me-ask-you-this-mr/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Let me ask you this, Mr. Ai: do you know, by your own experience, what patriotism is?” “No,” I said, shaken by the force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/let-me-ask-you-this-mr-ai-do-you-know-by-your-own-experience-what/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [ As I said before, \[patriotism\] is distinct from acting to benefit the government - a distinction that's increasingly lost today. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/as-i-said-before-patriotism-is-distinct-from-acting-to-benefit-the/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [“I know most people today would regard such love of country as ridiculously romantic and naïve,” he said. “Patriotism itself has been hijacked by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-simonson/i-know-most-people-today-would-regard-such-love-of-country-as/) [Helen Simonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-simonson/) > [I'm an advocate of the great Dr. Johnson, the English man of letters who said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-galloway/i-m-an-advocate-of-the-great-dr-johnson-the-english-man-of-letters/) [George Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-galloway/) > [Someone said that patriotism is the last refuge of cowards; those without moral principles usually wrap a flag around themselves, and those bastards always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/someone-said-that-patriotism-is-the-last-refuge-of-cowards-those/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,. to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/it-is-the-duty-of-all-nations-to-acknowledge-the-providence-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [If nothing else came out of all of this debacle over Obamacare, one thing that should is a class-action lawsuit against the University of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-gohmert/if-nothing-else-came-out-of-all-of-this-debacle-over-obamacare-one/) [Louie Gohmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-gohmert/) > [“The other component was to build cadres through political education. Republicans sought out wealthy donors to set up foundations and think tanks as safe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-other-component-was-to-build-cadres-through-political-education/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [Obama wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black. Somebody asked me over the weekend why does somebody earn a lot of money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/obama-wouldn-t-have-been-voted-president-if-he-weren-t-black-somebody/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Most of us know nothing about constitutional law, so it's hardly surprising that we take sides in the Obamacare debate the way we root…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/most-of-us-know-nothing-about-constitutional-law-so-it-s-hardly/) [Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/) > [The Court is most vulnerable and comes nearest to illegitimacy when it deals with judge-made constitutional law having little or no cognizable roots in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-white/the-court-is-most-vulnerable-and-comes-nearest-to-illegitimacy-when/) [Byron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-white/) > [The current constitutional law places the president of the republic in an embarrassing situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-eduardo-dos-santos/the-current-constitutional-law-places-the-president-of-the-republic/) [Jose Eduardo Dos Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-eduardo-dos-santos/) ## More by George Lakoff > [Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-concepts-structure-what-we-perceive-how-we-get-around-in-the/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you — the media, your enemies, your competitors, your well-meaning friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/unless-you-frame-yourself-others-will-frame-you-the-media-your/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“This is how reason really works: through framing, metaphors, emotion, narratives, and imagery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/this-is-how-reason-really-works-through-framing-metaphors-emotion/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [If you're a progressive, you can find lots of people who call themselves conservatives, but who agree with you on lots of things. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/if-you-re-a-progressive-you-can-find-lots-of-people-who-call/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [The Public provides freedom...Individualism begins after the roads are built, after individualists have had an education, after medical research has cured their diseases...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-public-provides-freedom-individualism-begins-after-the-roads-are/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-essence-of-metaphor-is-understanding-and-experiencing-one-kind-of/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as we do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-the-brains-and-bodies-we-have/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“The environment is not an "other" to us. It is not a collection of things that we encounter. Rather, it is part of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-environment-is-not-an-other-to-us-it-is-not-a-collection-of/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [Barack Obama understands what Ronald Reagan learned, which is that people vote not on the basis of issues and policy details, but on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/barack-obama-understands-what-ronald-reagan-learned-which-is-that/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-ordinary-conceptual-system-in-terms-of-which-we-both-think-and/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [Most conservatives are conservatives because they think they are morally correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/most-conservatives-are-conservatives-because-they-think-they-are/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [You can't understand Twenty-first-Century Politics with an Eighteenth-Century Brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/you-can-t-understand-twenty-first-century-politics-with-an-eighteenth/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“If you believe in the eighteenth century view of the mind, you will look and act wimpy. You will think that all you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/if-you-believe-in-the-eighteenth-century-view-of-the-mind-you-will/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“The biology of empathy allows us to comprehend our connection to each other, to other living things, and to the physical world that supports…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-biology-of-empathy-allows-us-to-comprehend-our-connection-to-each/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [One of the things cognitive science teaches us is that when people define their very identity by a worldview, or a narrative, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/one-of-the-things-cognitive-science-teaches-us-is-that-when-people/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) [Explore all 36 George Lakoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) ## More Acting quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. 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Sometimes it takes longer than what you can give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/acting-is-a-grind-just-like-music-is-a-grind-sometimes-it-takes/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [It was only when I started making short films in college and I was looking for girls to play the me-ish parts that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/it-was-only-when-i-started-making-short-films-in-college-and-i-was/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. 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Whether you're a child mucking around with your friends or a grown up being paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-hewson/actors-don-t-hate-acting-most-people-don-t-hate-acting-whether-you-re/) [Liv Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-hewson/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [The show was number one in the ratings, Gordon Russell was our head writer, the story lines were magnificent and the acting most exciting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-storm/the-show-was-number-one-in-the-ratings-gordon-russell-was-our-head/) [Michael Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-storm/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. 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