If We Have Forgotten That We Belong To Each Other

630 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of community service

The quote “If We Have No Peace, It Is Because We Have Forgotten That We Belong to Each Other” was spoken by Mother Teresa, the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. She was considered one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century and she was just canonized as “Saint Teresa of Calcutta” in 2016. As a Roman Catholic, the quote presents a beautiful principle - simply stated “WE belong to each other.” I chose to capitalize the word WE because this planet was given to US with intentions to be shared by ALL; all aspects, both good and bad. In essence, one cannot share with him or herself – one can only share with another person or persons. By definition, that’s what the word “share” means. It is rooted in the notion that WE must discipline ourselves to remember that WE belong to each other in both public and private live, in both local and global …show more content…

Compassion for others only comes naturally when we think of the innocent young children going to bed hungry because there is no food in their home, veterans forced to live on the street and endure the inclement weather because they lack the funds necessary for adequate shelter or housing, victims of poverty and war, or victims the rape – vandalism – theft – etc. But what if WE are looking with the blind eye, WE will not reach out and help those who need help, instead of casting stones on those who can’t or who need. WE belong to a collective society and remembering that negativity is only created and fueled by US – in return positivity should only be created and continued by US. WE are here to create a culture of change for

Show More
Related

  • Indifference in Night by Elie Wiesel: A Poison That Spreads

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...es the world today, these people always choose ignorance over reason. Most people choose ignorance as a defence mechanism to stop thinking about these problems, they don’t realize that by doing that they are becoming more indifferent and they lose one of the most important traits that makes them human, compassion. Without compassion humans would become animals and the world we live in would become a jungle. As Edmund Burke warned “all that is needed for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing”, he warns the whole world that if they do not stand up for evil, it will win. Elie Weisle also explains “ The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference”, meaning that if the world does not stop their ignorance, and start to show compassion to one another , they might as well say goodbye to their precious world because it’s not going to be around for very long.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Real Life Examples From Anthem

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    "We are one in all and all in one. There is no man but only the great 'we', one, indivisible, and forever."

    Read More

  • Are Human Estranged In Essence

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the Athenian philosopher, human beings were not estranged in essence. This ideology is continuously backed by Plato’s own life choices as well as his teachings to his followers; by choosing death over exile, he declined a chance to live over the inability to see his family or friends had his he accepted the banishment that was offered to him rather than execution.

    Read More

  • Elie Wiesel Rhetorical Analysis

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    In our world, I see many people that lack the ability to show compassion. They can be so selfish when they should be more selfless. Even I admit it, I am selfish sometimes and don't help others when they may need it. For this reason, I believe that compassion should be a human right. Many people will see a person or an animal in distress and think, “I don't need to help them; some other generous person will.” But in most cases, nobody ends up helping the distressed person or animal because every person thinks “it’s not their job to help” or “somebody else will do it.” I believe a right of compassion will make it human nature to help others without second

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast This Is Water And On Compassion

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Barbara Ascher’s, essay, “On Compassion,” compels the audience to interpret the compassion and empathy with their underlying definitions. Ascher states “I don’t believe that one is born compassionate. Compassion is not a character trait like a sunny disposition. It must be learned” (189). By depicting deeper meaning from three events which took place in Manhattan, New York, she helps her audience reanalyze the thought process when we believe that we have done something out of the “kindness of our hearts” without some kind of hidden agenda. Ascher requests that her audience takes a deeper look at the idea when she states “Could it be that the homeless, like those ancients, are reminding us of our common humanity? Of course, there is a difference. This play doesn’t end—and the players can’t go home” (189). After referring back to her everyday life examples of what anyone would all call acts of kindness she questions her audiences’ understanding. By analyze these story’s she informs the audience there is a thin line between compassion and pity or being empathetic and being annoyed.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Compassion By Barbara Lazear Ascher

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    Compassion has became something rare in our society, and something that a lot of people lack. The author, Barbara Lazear Ascher, explains to us that compassion is not a character trait, but rather something that we learn along the way with the help of real life situations we encounter, such as the ones she encountered herself. Ascher persuades her audience that compassion is not just something you are born with by using anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and allusions.

    Read More

  • Exploring Compassion in Urban Poverty

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the story On Compassion, the author, Ascher, explains how no one is born with compassion and must be taught it. A homeless, black man was staring at a women’s baby in the stroller and she offered him a dollar. At first he was hesitant to take it, but eventually did. Later another man walks into an overpriced coffee shop in which the store owner handed him a bag with food. Ascher makes the readers question whether these were acts of fear, pity, or just simply out of the good of heart.

    Read More

  • Beggars, Homeless and the Professional Panhandling Plague

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people feel that they should help the needy in some way or another. The problem is how to help them. This problem generally arises when there is a person sitting on the side of the road in battered clothes with a cardboard sign asking for some form of help, almost always in the form of money. Yet something makes the giver uneasy. What will they do with this money? Do they need this money? Will it really help them? The truth of the matter is, it won't. However, there are things that can be done to help the needy. Giving money to a reliable foundation will help the helpless, something that transferring money from a pocket to a man's tin can will never do.

    Read More

  • Compassion And Kinship By Gregory Boyle Summary

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    On 1/13/16, I watched the TED Talk of Gregory Boyle, “Compassion and Kinship,” a founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries. He explained how we should form a relationship with others so that we can come together as one rather than being enemies towards each other. Specifically he claimed that having kinship and compassion breaks down barriers it allows people who don’t fit society’s standards know that their life has value, meaning, and worth. As he said, “How can we achieve a certain kind of compassion that stands in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgement at how they carry it, for the measure of our compassion lies not in our service of those on the margins but in our willingness to see ourselves and kinship with them and mutuality.” Although some people believe that once they choose to make bad decisions, they have

    Read More

  • The Morally Ambiguity In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1901 Words  | 4 Pages

    “I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”

    Read More

  • Opposing Views On Homelessness

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine passing by a homeless man, holding up a sign saying homeless hunger, what do you do? you can do two things walk past it and ignore the man or give money. When you walk past the men then you need View A and View B. These views are the views of yours and the man, meaning that if you walk past the man you probably think “this is just one person, he can find a job and work rather than living in the street” that is View A. As you walk past the man he probably feels worthless, unwanted, not important etc. I feel like the person can only understand what the homeless man is going through if they experienced it themselves. You just say it’s just one person and he will survive, but what you don't realize is that, what if there are many more of these kind of people in a country who are suffering and dying. These people are at poverty and not a lot of people know about poverty because there is not a lot of awareness on it.

    Read More

  • The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Moral

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people do nothing to help those suffering in society. Some people continue leading their happy, privileged lives without any care about the less privileged, while others simply pity them and walk away, claiming that there is nothing they can do.

    Read More

  • Empathy In Barbara Lazecher And Quindlen's On Compassion

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    Compassion is a feeling that humans portray towards others, but you also have to act in some way to aid them and to decrease their suffering. Barbara Lazear Ascher's purpose “On Compassion” of her essay was to distinguish emotions that people feel towards homeless people. She posed the question of whether or not people feel compassion or pity towards homeless people. The thesis statement is the first sentence, which encompasses the main themes that compassions revolves around somebody’s circumstances, rather than a situation that one can dream about. In other words, it is one’s reality. Specifically, “the man’s grin is less the result of circumstance

    Read More

  • Appiah Cosmopolitanism Analysis

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    Why do we other and is there an ethical way to live with the other in an increasingly diverse world? In Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah considers otherness as coming from two interconnected concepts: first, the other are those who are not local or related to us; second, we perceive the other to have a conflicting set of values to our own. However, Appiah contends that the values between a group and an other are not significantly different. As for an ethical means of living together with the other, Appiah puts forth the concept of cosmopolitanism, which has two fundamental ideas: that we have an obligation of concern for others; and a respect for what he refers to as “legitimate difference” (Appiah: xv).

    Read More

  • The Importance of Serving Others

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Individualism is rampant in our world. More and more people are concerned with what they want, when they want it and how they want it. They put blinders on and go about their work, convinced that “looking out for number one” is the only way to succeed and find happiness. If everyone were to adopt this way of thinking and living, the world would become violently competitive, gloomy, and callous. However, if we open our lives and give service to those less fortunate than ourselves, we allow our hearts to receive immeasurable happiness. There are countless members of society, who make service and ultimately self-sacrifice a part of their everyday lives. One of the greatest examples the world has of a self-sacrificing person is Mother Teresa. She said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love… It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.” Doctors Without Borders is a powerful humanitarian organization that was most recently volunteering in Haiti. Part of their mission statement reads, “…We unite direct medical care with a commitment to bearing witness and speaking out against the underlying causes of suffering. Our aid workers and staff protest violations of humanitarian law on behalf of populations who have no voice, and bring the concerns of their patients to public forums…” These are just two mainstream examples of people and organizations that live and work for others, to improve the quality of their lives.

    Read More

More about If We Have Forgotten That We Belong To Each Other

Open Document