--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We need to infuse politics with ideas…" description: "\"We need to infuse politics with ideas like compassion and empathy, and a sense that we live in an interdependent world.\" — Pankaj Mishra" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg" --- # We need to infuse politics with ideas like compassion and… ![“We need to infuse politics with ideas like compassion and empathy, and a sense that we live in an interdependent world.” quote by Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg) > “We need to infuse politics with ideas like compassion and empathy, and a sense that we live in an interdependent world.” [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political decisions should be guided by empathy and recognition of global interdependence. **In simple terms:** Compassion should shape politics. Key Takeaway Infuse empathy into policy making. Themes globalism empathy political philosophy Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical policy When to use this quote - international cooperation - community building - education reform Key Concepts interdependence humanism ethical governance Questions to Reflect On - What policies best reflect interdependence? - How can empathy be measured in governance? A Different Perspective Compassion alone may not resolve complex power dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Compassion and empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion-and-empathy/) [Compassion Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion-empathy/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Positive social emotions like compassion and empathy are generally good for us, and we want to encourage them. But do we know how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/positive-social-emotions-like-compassion-and-empathy-are-generally/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The solution to nearly every problem in the world comes down to greater awareness, compassion, and empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-solution-to-nearly-every-problem-in-the-world-comes-down-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My parents' approach to everything was through the lens of compassion and empathy. The only way to educate those who ridicule you or judge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedella-marley/my-parents-approach-to-everything-was-through-the-lens-of-compassion/) [Cedella Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedella-marley/) > [As an actor, I function from a place of compassion and empathy - you have to believe 100 percent what your character is doing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-bowen/as-an-actor-i-function-from-a-place-of-compassion-and-empathy-you/) [Clare Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-bowen/) > [We try to approach everything in Life After Hate and Exit USA with compassion. While we really promote approaching things with compassion and empathy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-picciolini/we-try-to-approach-everything-in-life-after-hate-and-exit-usa-with/) [Christian Picciolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-picciolini/) > [“I realized that it is these two things that staying with regrets offers: It can become the seed of compassion and empathy so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/i-realized-that-it-is-these-two-things-that-staying-with-regrets/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [In order to have understanding, you need forgiveness, compassion, and empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rooney-mara/in-order-to-have-understanding-you-need-forgiveness-compassion-and/) [Rooney Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rooney-mara/) > [If it is not tempered by compassion, and empathy, reason can lead men and women into a moral void.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-not-tempered-by-compassion-and-empathy-reason-can-lead-men/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“hurt your feelings, and then observe how they react (this naturally assumes that you yourself are treating them respectfully). If it's a psychopath, don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-warstad/hurt-your-feelings-and-then-observe-how-they-react-this-naturally/) Jonas Warstad > [Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place. Science leads you to killing people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stein/love-of-god-and-compassion-and-empathy-leads-you-to-a-very-glorious/) [Ben Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stein/) > [I grew up with a lot of compassion and empathy. I notice when I meet other friends of mine that were raised Christian sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weyes-blood/i-grew-up-with-a-lot-of-compassion-and-empathy-i-notice-when-i-meet/) [Weyes Blood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weyes-blood/) > [Animals should have rights and should be treated with compassion and empathy; we are their caretakers. If you don't have it in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-cleary/animals-should-have-rights-and-should-be-treated-with-compassion-and/) [Katie Cleary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-cleary/) > [Compassion and empathy are not the same as feeling sorry for oneself. They are emotions that extend our perceptual ranges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/compassion-and-empathy-are-not-the-same-as-feeling-sorry-for-oneself/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“There are many roads towards war but just one towards peace...which must begin with a ❤ heart that has compassion and empathy for all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/there-are-many-roads-towards-war-but-just-one-towards-peace-which/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [With Tourette's, there's this element of vulnerability and compassion and empathy that you innately possess because of the affliction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dash-mihok/with-tourette-s-there-s-this-element-of-vulnerability-and-compassion/) [Dash Mihok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dash-mihok/) ## More by Pankaj Mishra > [“Nationalism has again become a seductive but treacherous antidote to an experience of disorder and meaninglessness: the unexpectedly rowdy anticlimax, in a densely populated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/nationalism-has-again-become-a-seductive-but-treacherous-antidote-to/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [I feel very privileged to get to read and write and not to have to do things that I don't like, and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/i-feel-very-privileged-to-get-to-read-and-write-and-not-to-have-to-do/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [There was great political uncertainty in South Asia at the time of the Buddha. The older small tribal societies were cracking up and gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/there-was-great-political-uncertainty-in-south-asia-at-the-time-of/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Buddhism resonated very powerfully with a lot of my preoccupations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/buddhism-resonated-very-powerfully-with-a-lot-of-my-preoccupations/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Our tolerance of the intolerable found a low threshold as early as the late 1950s with the grotesque excesses of McCarthyism, which destroyed so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/our-tolerance-of-the-intolerable-found-a-low-threshold-as-early-as/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Freedom of speech doesn't guarantee great literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/freedom-of-speech-doesn-t-guarantee-great-literature/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“As Keynes wrote, with devastating understatement, ‘The age of economic internationalism was not particularly successful in avoiding war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/as-keynes-wrote-with-devastating-understatement-the-age-of-economic/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“Voltaire was soon turned, with Catherine’s encouragement, into a patron saint for the secular Russian aristocracy. Voltairianism, vaguely signifying rationalism, scepticism and reformism, became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/voltaire-was-soon-turned-with-catherine-s-encouragement-into-a-patron/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“Today, the belief in progress, necessary for life in a Godless universe, can no longer be sustained, except, perhaps, in the Silicon Valley mansions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/today-the-belief-in-progress-necessary-for-life-in-a-godless-universe/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [We are always boosting or trying to prop up the ego by fulfilling some desire or other, and always craving affirmation from the outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/we-are-always-boosting-or-trying-to-prop-up-the-ego-by-fulfilling/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [I don't think of myself as particularly earnest. I have long bouts of cynicism and skepticism. So much of my early life was full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/i-don-t-think-of-myself-as-particularly-earnest-i-have-long-bouts-of/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“Marx reproduced medieval and Reformation millenarian expectations in his utopia of a classless, stateless society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/marx-reproduced-medieval-and-reformation-millenarian-expectations-in/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“History, largely experienced previously as a series of natural disasters, could now be seen as a movement in which everyone could potentially enlist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/history-largely-experienced-previously-as-a-series-of-natural/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Writers in the nineteenth century - people like George Eliot and Flaubert - were accustomed to addressing particular communities with which they shared not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/writers-in-the-nineteenth-century-people-like-george-eliot-and/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Most suffering is human-made and avoidable. It's mostly in your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/most-suffering-is-human-made-and-avoidable-it-s-mostly-in-your-head/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) [Explore all 147 Pankaj Mishra quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) ## 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. That's as powerful as stirring their sorrow, stirring their compassion, because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-really-enjoy-making-people-laugh-i-ve-discovered-that-s-a-great/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“If you refuse to use physical force, then you will be at the mercy of your oppressor!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/segun-magbagbeola/if-you-refuse-to-use-physical-force-then-you-will-be-at-the-mercy-of/) Segun Magbagbeola > [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. 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. (Madoc) You’d better be glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/may-the-gods-have-mercy-on-whoever-pisses-them-off-because-zarek-and/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [When you need empathy, you cannot give empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/when-you-need-empathy-you-cannot-give-empathy/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“la ilaha ilallah muhammadun rasulullah, alaihi salatullah wa alihi wal ahibba "shine your mercy like the sun, and be gracious as the earth let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-al-habib/la-ilaha-ilallah-muhammadun-rasulullah-alaihi-salatullah-wa-alihi-wal/) Talib al Habib > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) [Browse all 9,892 Compassion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We need to infuse politics with ideas like compassion and empathy, and a sense that we live in an interdependent world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pankaj Mishra" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-like-compassion-and-empathy-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Compassion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-like-compassion-and-empathy-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/pankaj-mishra-2875_compassion_we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-li_1822426.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We need to infuse politics with ideas like compassion and empathy, and a sense that we live in an…” — Pankaj Mishra", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pankaj Mishra", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We need to infuse politics with...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-like-compassion-and-empathy-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/we-need-to-infuse-politics-with-ideas-like-compassion-and-empathy-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```