--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you engage in compassion, and you…" description: "\"When you engage in compassion, and you hear a distressing sound, like someone calling for help, there is an activation in an area of the brain called t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/matthieu-ricard-4004_activation_when-you-engage-in-compassion-and-you-he_782956.jpg" --- # When you engage in compassion, and you hear a distressing… ![“When you engage in compassion, and you hear a distressing sound, like someone calling for help, there is an activation in an area of the brain called the insular, which has to do with empathy and altruism, that is vastly more activated than in non-meditators.” quote by Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/matthieu-ricard-4004_activation_when-you-engage-in-compassion-and-you-he_782956.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/matthieu-ricard-4004_activation_when-you-engage-in-compassion-and-you-he_782956.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/matthieu-ricard-4004_activation_when-you-engage-in-compassion-and-you-he_782956.jpg) > “When you engage in compassion, and you hear a distressing sound, like someone calling for help, there is an activation in an area of the brain called the insular, which has to do with empathy and altruism, that is vastly more activated than in non-meditators.” [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Meditation enhances empathy by activating brain regions linked to altruism, more than in non‑meditators. **In simple terms:** Meditation boosts empathy brain activity. Key Takeaway Practice meditation to strengthen compassionate responses. Themes neuroscience compassion mindfulness Mood calm inquisitive Type educational scientific When to use this quote - counseling - volunteering - conflict mediation - stress relief Key Concepts brain plasticity empathy training Questions to Reflect On - Can you notice increased empathy after meditation? - What practices complement meditation for compassion? A Different Perspective Meditation benefits vary by individual and context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activation/) [Altruism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altruism/) [Areas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/areas/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Calling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calling/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Compassion Hear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion-hear-2351070/) [Distressing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distressing/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Empathy Altruism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy-altruism-3714770/) [Engage Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engage-compassion-6029454/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Insular Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insular-empathy-6029453/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) ## Related quotes > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/the-youngest-children-have-a-great-capacity-for-empathy-and-altruism/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“I cannot but feel compassion when I hear some trig, compact-looking man, seemingly free, all girded and ready, speak of his 'furniture,' as whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-cannot-but-feel-compassion-when-i-hear-some-trig-compact-looking/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“In order to master compassion, you have to spend time getting to know monsters. When you can do that you will see that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/in-order-to-master-compassion-you-have-to-spend-time-getting-to-know/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [There's not a drop of hero's blood in my whole body, so spare me the praise. I'm just an ordinary guy, and proud of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroshi-sakurazaka/there-s-not-a-drop-of-hero-s-blood-in-my-whole-body-so-spare-me-the/) [Hiroshi Sakurazaka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroshi-sakurazaka/) > [It is the activation of our personal will that brings us into engagement with our divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-mamerto/it-is-the-activation-of-our-personal-will-that-brings-us-into/) [Edwin Mamerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-mamerto/) > [The whole of the Amazonian narcotic complex, as it's called in the old literature, is based on activation of DMT by one strategy or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-whole-of-the-amazonian-narcotic-complex-as-it-s-called-in-the-old/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Healing... is an active and internal process that includes investigating one's attitudes, memories and beliefs with the desire to release all negative patterns that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/healing-is-an-active-and-internal-process-that-includes-investigating/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [One wonders how people in primitive societies, with no knowledge of chemistry or physiology, ever hit upon a solution to the activation of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-evans-schultes/one-wonders-how-people-in-primitive-societies-with-no-knowledge-of/) [Richard Evans Schultes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-evans-schultes/) > [The success of any user generated content-related project should be judged in the long term. Try not to use it as a one-off campaign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-thompson/the-success-of-any-user-generated-content-related-project-should-be/) [Damian Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-thompson/) > [Satyagraha means insistence on what one knows to be the truth. The insistence implies the exercise of free will as the need of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/satyagraha-means-insistence-on-what-one-knows-to-be-the-truth-the/) [Goparaju Ramachandra Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/) > [The creative process, so far as we are able to follow it at all, consists in the unconscious activation of an archetypal image and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-creative-process-so-far-as-we-are-able-to-follow-it-at-all/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Reagents are regarded as acting by virtue of a constitutional affinity either for electrons or for nuclei... the terms electrophilic (electron-seeking) and nucleophilic (nucleus-seeking)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-kelk-ingold/reagents-are-regarded-as-acting-by-virtue-of-a-constitutional/) [Christopher Kelk Ingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-kelk-ingold/) > [I endeavor to make a picture, for instance, exert a positive influence on the observer by its coloring, mood, and compositional idea, encouraging, say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/i-endeavor-to-make-a-picture-for-instance-exert-a-positive-influence/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [You have to figure out what conversion means in your case. What does retention mean? What does activation mean? For every business, it's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-butterfield/you-have-to-figure-out-what-conversion-means-in-your-case-what-does/) [Stewart Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-butterfield/) > [I've had an addiction for a long time to the whole business of maximizing one's potential, what I call human activation. The vehicle for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-ve-had-an-addiction-for-a-long-time-to-the-whole-business-of/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) ## More by Matthieu Ricard > [Whatever you train, you change your brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/whatever-you-train-you-change-your-brain/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [“I think what everyone should be doing, before it's too late, is committing themselves to what they really want to do with their lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/i-think-what-everyone-should-be-doing-before-it-s-too-late-is/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/happiness-is-a-state-of-inner-fulfillment-not-the-gratification-of/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [At each point in our lives, we are at a crossroads. We are the fruit of our past and we are the architects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/at-each-point-in-our-lives-we-are-at-a-crossroads-we-are-the-fruit-of/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [I don't often get into a bad mood, since it does not help anything and clouds my judgment, but I can certainly see that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/i-don-t-often-get-into-a-bad-mood-since-it-does-not-help-anything-and/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [Happiness can’t be reduced to a few agreeable sensations. Rather, it is a way of being and of experiencing the world—a profound fulfillment that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/happiness-can-t-be-reduced-to-a-few-agreeable-sensations-rather-it-is/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [Peace is not weak. Standing up to a tank is harder than dropping a suicide bomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/peace-is-not-weak-standing-up-to-a-tank-is-harder-than-dropping-a/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [Good and evil exist only in terms of the happiness or suffering they create in ourselves and others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/good-and-evil-exist-only-in-terms-of-the-happiness-or-suffering-they/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [Authentic happiness is not linked to an activity, it is a state of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/authentic-happiness-is-not-linked-to-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [ When you see those in healthcare who don't get this burn-out, they are very motherly, fatherly, or loving and attentive with the patients. \[These\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/when-you-see-those-in-healthcare-who-don-t-get-this-burn-out-they-are/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [Although the optimist may be a little giddy when foreseeing the future, telling himself that it will all work out in the end when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/although-the-optimist-may-be-a-little-giddy-when-foreseeing-the/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [“There is a possibility for change because all emotions are fleeting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/there-is-a-possibility-for-change-because-all-emotions-are-fleeting/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [When faced with adverse circumstances, if you can do something, do it and there is not need to worry. If you can't do anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/when-faced-with-adverse-circumstances-if-you-can-do-something-do-it/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [“The only ‘failure’ of quantum theory is its inability to provide a natural framework for our prejudices.”1”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/the-only-failure-of-quantum-theory-is-its-inability-to-provide-a/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [The mind is malleable. Our life can be greatly transformed by even a minimal change in how we manage our thoughts and perceive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/the-mind-is-malleable-our-life-can-be-greatly-transformed-by-even-a/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) [Explore all 108 Matthieu Ricard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) ## More Activation quotes > [I've had an addiction for a long time to the whole business of maximizing one's potential, what I call human activation. The vehicle for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/i-ve-had-an-addiction-for-a-long-time-to-the-whole-business-of/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [You have to figure out what conversion means in your case. What does retention mean? What does activation mean? For every business, it's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-butterfield/you-have-to-figure-out-what-conversion-means-in-your-case-what-does/) [Stewart Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-butterfield/) > [I endeavor to make a picture, for instance, exert a positive influence on the observer by its coloring, mood, and compositional idea, encouraging, say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/i-endeavor-to-make-a-picture-for-instance-exert-a-positive-influence/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [Reagents are regarded as acting by virtue of a constitutional affinity either for electrons or for nuclei... the terms electrophilic (electron-seeking) and nucleophilic (nucleus-seeking)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-kelk-ingold/reagents-are-regarded-as-acting-by-virtue-of-a-constitutional/) [Christopher Kelk Ingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-kelk-ingold/) > [The creative process, so far as we are able to follow it at all, consists in the unconscious activation of an archetypal image and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-creative-process-so-far-as-we-are-able-to-follow-it-at-all/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Satyagraha means insistence on what one knows to be the truth. The insistence implies the exercise of free will as the need of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/satyagraha-means-insistence-on-what-one-knows-to-be-the-truth-the/) [Goparaju Ramachandra Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goparaju-ramachandra-rao/) > [The success of any user generated content-related project should be judged in the long term. Try not to use it as a one-off campaign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-thompson/the-success-of-any-user-generated-content-related-project-should-be/) [Damian Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-thompson/) > [One wonders how people in primitive societies, with no knowledge of chemistry or physiology, ever hit upon a solution to the activation of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-evans-schultes/one-wonders-how-people-in-primitive-societies-with-no-knowledge-of/) [Richard Evans Schultes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-evans-schultes/) > [Healing... is an active and internal process that includes investigating one's attitudes, memories and beliefs with the desire to release all negative patterns that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/healing-is-an-active-and-internal-process-that-includes-investigating/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [The whole of the Amazonian narcotic complex, as it's called in the old literature, is based on activation of DMT by one strategy or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-whole-of-the-amazonian-narcotic-complex-as-it-s-called-in-the-old/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [It is the activation of our personal will that brings us into engagement with our divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-mamerto/it-is-the-activation-of-our-personal-will-that-brings-us-into/) [Edwin Mamerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-mamerto/) > [There's not a drop of hero's blood in my whole body, so spare me the praise. I'm just an ordinary guy, and proud of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroshi-sakurazaka/there-s-not-a-drop-of-hero-s-blood-in-my-whole-body-so-spare-me-the/) [Hiroshi Sakurazaka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroshi-sakurazaka/) > [“Achieving your dreams will never happen while you are asleep. 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