--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can understand, you can feel…" description: "\"If you can understand, you can feel compassion.\" — Kevin Macdonald" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/248/kevin-macdonald-5800_compassion_if-you-can-understand-you-can-feel-compa_1622684.jpg" --- # If you can understand, you can feel compassion. ![“If you can understand, you can feel compassion.” quote by Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/248/kevin-macdonald-5800_compassion_if-you-can-understand-you-can-feel-compa_1622684.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/248/kevin-macdonald-5800_compassion_if-you-can-understand-you-can-feel-compa_1622684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/248/kevin-macdonald-5800_compassion_if-you-can-understand-you-can-feel-compa_1622684.jpg) > “If you can understand, you can feel compassion.” [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding leads to compassion, which arises from empathy **In simple terms:** Understanding creates compassion Key Takeaway Seek to understand before judging Themes empathy compassion understanding Mood thoughtful empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - caregiving - team leadership Key Concepts psychology human relations Questions to Reflect On - How can you move from understanding to action? - What practices deepen compassionate response? A Different Perspective Understanding alone may not guarantee compassion ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel/) [Feel Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-compassion/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand/) [Understand Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-feel/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [“Even the strongest and bravest must sometimes weep. It shows they have a great heart, one that can feel compassion for others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jacques/even-the-strongest-and-bravest-must-sometimes-weep-it-shows-they-have/) [Brian Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jacques/) > [“No, I’m a mother. 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It's a bit like therapy, with lots of transferences going on. It's easy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/the-relationship-between-director-and-subject-can-become-very-intense/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [When we made 'Life in a Day,' we asked people around the globe to record their lives on a single ordinary day. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/when-we-made-life-in-a-day-we-asked-people-around-the-globe-to-record/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [There were many times during the filming of 'Touching the Void' when I wondered why I had ever thought I wanted to make this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/there-were-many-times-during-the-filming-of-touching-the-void-when-i/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [Coming from documentaries, my biggest challenge was to understand actors' psychologies. American actors take it all very seriously; British actors don't enter into all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/coming-from-documentaries-my-biggest-challenge-was-to-understand/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [You can go to places in Africa and Asia and find Marley graffiti. In the slums of Nairobi, you see his lyrics painted on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/you-can-go-to-places-in-africa-and-asia-and-find-marley-graffiti-in/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [The interesting thing to me is that somehow the future of movies will become a more social thing... I think that people will see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/the-interesting-thing-to-me-is-that-somehow-the-future-of-movies-will/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [A publisher friend of mine suggested that I write a book about my grandfather, who had just died. I had nothing else to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/a-publisher-friend-of-mine-suggested-that-i-write-a-book-about-my/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [Elvis Presley's estate is making 30 million a year, and they say that Marley shouldn't be, but he is from a much poorer part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/elvis-presley-s-estate-is-making-30-million-a-year-and-they-say-that/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) [Explore all 100 Kevin Macdonald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) ## More Compassion quotes > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“I fight with love and kindness as my weapons and compassion as my defense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/i-fight-with-love-and-kindness-as-my-weapons-and-compassion-as-my/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [I really enjoy making people laugh; I've discovered that's a great technique. 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If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [“Helpers in every corner, helpers in every hood. That's how we'll make the move, to reform from rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/helpers-in-every-corner-helpers-in-every-hood-that-s-how-we-ll-make/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [May the gods have mercy on whoever pisses them off, because Zarek and Jericho will have none for them. 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