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Building a Movement to Create a More Empathetic Society.
Barack Obama is leading a campaign based on values. At the core of this
is the value of
empathy.
Barack talks about empathy and the importance of 'standing in other peoples
shoes', in many of his speeches (I've collected 40 so far). Empathy is
the most basic value he ran on and he says the country has an 'empathy deficit' that
needs to be filled. We are putting together a video of his talking about this
topic to give it some context and promote this foundational progressive value. Let's
help fill the empathy deficit by making people more aware of the topic. This
is a collaborative project and we would like you to take part.
Send me an email if you'd like to get involved with creating this video.
Edwin Rutsch (email)
To Join the Project
To Do List:
Video Clips of Barrack Obama Talking About Empathy
(areas in red are material that's still
needed)
(See the full text of all of Barack's Empathy Comments Here)
Date |
Clip |
Speech |
Empathy Comments |
DL | ||
1995-07-18 |
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Book: Dreams from My Father | 1995-07-18
- Book - Dreams from
My Father Text Source - Local Copy - Nor do I pretend to understand the stark nihilism that drove the terrorists that day and that drives their brethren still. My powers of empathy, my ability to reach into another's heart, cannot penetrate the blank stares of those who would murder innocents with abstract, serene satisfaction. ------ And it is that truth, a truth that they surely sense but can't admit and, in fact, must refuse if they are to wake up tomorrow, that has forced them, or others like them, eventually to shut off access to any empathy they may once have felt. |
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2001-09-19 |
(need video) |
9-11 Attack Caused by “Lack of Empathy” | 2001-09-19
- 9-11 Attack Caused by Lack of Empathy Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. |
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2004-07-27 |
DNC 2004 Keynote Address Boston MA @ americanrhetoric |
2004-07-27
- DNC 2004 Keynote Address - Boston MA Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (any empathy sections?) |
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2004-11-XX |
Sen. Barack Obama,
O Magazine (Nov. 2004) (need text and any video) |
2004-11-XX - Sen.
Barack Obama O Magazine Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section I often say we've got a budget deficit that's important, we've got a trade deficit that's critical, but what I worry about most is our empathy deficit. When I speak to students, I tell them that one of the most important things we can do is to look through somebody else's eyes.” Sen. Barack Obama, O Magazine (Nov. 2004) |
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2004-11-23 |
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Charlie Rose - BARACK OBAMA @ youtube |
2004-11-23 - Charlie Rose -
Barack Obama Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (need transcript) At video 25:00 - 27:00: When I see the empathy deficit that damages so much of our politics. Rose: What is the empathy deficit? The inability of people to stand in other folks shoes. ... 52:00 It's hard to empathize with people who have different values than you. |
x | v | |
2004-11-23 |
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Obama Book Signing NY NY @ c-span (new) |
2004-11-23 - Obama Book Signing - NY NY Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section How do we expand a sense of empathy and allow each and every one of us to... .. Excuses for that, and that's where my empathy stops. I can't get into thta mindset... |
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2005-04-12 |
(need video) |
My Visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center |
2005-04-12 - My Visit to Walter Reed Army
Medical Center Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Throughout these visits, I was extraordinarily impressed with the deep care, attentiveness and professionalism of the staff at Walter Reed. They considered these young people to be part of their families and are able to maintain a powerful balance between empathy for those in their care and a cheerful insistence on the ability of these wounded soldiers to recover from their injuries. |
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2005-06-22 |
(need video) |
What it takes be bona fide `full-grown' man - |
2005-06-22 - What it takes be full-grown man Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section One of the values that I think men in particular have to pass on is the value of empathy. Not sympathy, empathy. And what that means is standing in somebody else's shoes, being able to look through their eyes. You know, sometimes we get so caught up in "us" that it's hard to see that there are other people and that your behavior has an impact on them. And sometimes brothers in particular don't like to feel empathy, don't like to think in terms of "How does this affect other people?" because we think that's being soft. There's a culture in our society that says we can't show weakness and we can't, therefore, show kindness. That we can't be considerate because sometimes that makes us look weak. |
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2005-09-22 |
(need video) |
Confirmation of Judge John Roberts |
2005-09-22 - Confirmation of Judge John Roberts Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section That last mile can only be determined on the basis of one's deepest values, one's core concerns, one's broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one's empathy. |
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2006-01-13 |
(need video) |
Obama wraps up Middle East trip |
2006-01-13 - Obama wraps up Middle East trip Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section As you travel through the Middle East what keeps on striking home to me is how similar everyone is, and yet the degree to which we can find differences to fight wars over. It requires a great deal of empathy, I think, between various sides to overcome this history and live in peace. Local: |
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200X-XX-XX date ??? |
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Literacy & Empathy? @ youtube Reading Pennsylvania? (need full transcript and where is this speech from?) |
200X-XX-XX - Literacy & Empathy Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section The biggest deficit that we have in our society and the world right now is an empathy deficit. (empathy deficit, Barack Obama talks about the empathy deficit and how literacy and reading can help) |
x | v | |
2006-xx-xx |
Keynote
at Building with Books @ youtube - part 1 @ youtube - part 2 |
2006-xx-xx - Keynote at
Building with Books Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (need full transcript) (Says Building with Books program helps kids develop empathy.) |
x | v | ||
x | v | |||||
2006-06-02 |
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U. Massachusetts Boston Commencement
@ c-span (new) |
2006-06-02
- U Massachusetts Boston Commencement Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section My third piece of advice is to cultivate a sense of empathy - to put yourself in other people's shoes - to see the world from their eyes. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world. Local: |
p | ||
2006-06-16 |
2006
Northwestern Commencement |
2006-06-16 - 2006 Northwestern
Commencement Text Source 1, Source 2 - Local Copy - Empathy Section (Challenges Grads to Cultivate Empathy.) The world doesn't just revolve around you. There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit. |
x | pv | ||
2006-07-12 |
Campus Progress Annual Conference @ youtube @ livevideo (problems with clip) @ c-span (new) |
2006-07-12 - Campus Progress Annual Conference Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section The last piece of advice is to cultivate a sense of empathy. There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through those who are different from us - the child who's hungry, the laid-off steelworker, the immigrant woman cleaning your dorm room. |
x | p | ||
2006-08-11 |
(need video) |
Xavier University Commencement |
2006-08-11 - Xavier University Commencement Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section You know, there's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through the eyes of those who are different from us - the child who's hungry, the steelworker who's been laid-off, the family who lost the entire life they built together when the storm came to town. |
p | ||
2006-09-17 |
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Book: Audacity of Hope
@ fora.tv - author talk |
2006-09-17
- Book - Audacity of Hope Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section in Chapter 2 on Values "Like most of my values, I learned about empathy from my mother. She disdained any kind of cruelty or thoughtlessness or abuse of power ....Whenever she saw even a hint of such behavior in me she would look me square in the eyes and ask, "How do you think that would make you feel?" ... I find myself returning again and again to my mother's simple principle -- "How would that make you feel?" -- as a guidepost for my politics. ... It's not a question we ask ourselves enough, I think; as a country, we seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit." |
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2006-10-18 |
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Oprah Show @ photobucket |
2006-10-18 - Oprah Show Text Source - 2nd - Local Copy - Empathy Section "My mother taught me empathy—the basic concept of standing in somebody else's shoes and looking through their eyes. If I did something messed up, she'd just say, 'How would that make you feel if somebody did that to you?' That ends up being, I think, at the center of my politics, and I think that should be the center of all our politics. If we see a child who's languishing in an inner-city school, how would we feel if that was our child?" |
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2006-10-19 |
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Charlie Rose - An hour with Barack Obama |
2006-10-19
- Charlie Rose - An hour with Barack Obama Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Text: (no comments about empathy in this interview) Local: |
x | ||
2006-10-19 |
(need video) | Larry King Live
Part One - on CNN but ends before empathy section.
on Youtube |
2006-10-19
- Larry King Live Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Larry King quotes from Audacity of Hope: "Like most of my values, I learned about empathy from my mother" |
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2007-03-04 |
Selma Speech:
Commemorates 1965 Civil Rights March in
Selma, AL @ youtube (need full video) @ c-span (new) |
2007-03-04 - Selma Speech Commemorates 1965
civil rights march Text & Vid Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (1&2) There is an empathy gap. There is a gap in terms of sympathizing for the folks in New Orleans. |
x vx |
p | ||
2007-05-19 |
Southern NH Commencement @ youtube |
2007-05-19 - Southern New Hampshire Uni
Commencement Text & Vid Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section "The world doesn't just revolve around you. There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit " |
x vx |
p | ||
2007-07-17 |
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Planned Parenthood Conference @ youtube @ moneinamillion.com - full speech |
2007-07-17 - Planned Parenthood Conference Text Source 1, Text Source 2 - Local Copy - Empathy Section Barack Obama appoint Supreme Court justices justices with "empathy." "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges." |
x | p | |
2007-08-08 |
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Barack Obama
Walks in the Shoes of Oakland Homecare Worker Pauline Beck @ youtube |
2007-08-08 - Barack Obama Walks in the Shoes of Oakland Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (Obama 'walks in the shoes' of Pauline Beck cleans her house. Empathy in action.) Local: |
x | ||
2007-08-19 |
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Presidential Debate Des Moines IA @ c-span (new) @taudiobook (new) @ google (new)
|
2007-08-19 - Presidential Debate - Des Moines IA Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section I believe in the power of prayer. And part of what I believe in is that, through prayer, not only can we strengthen ourselves in adversity, but that we can also find the empathy and the compassion and the will to deal with the problems that we do control. |
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2007-09-28 |
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Presidential Debate Dartmouth College @ c-span (new)
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2007-09-28 - Presidential Debate Dartmouth
College Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section We have been governed in fear and division, and you know, we talk about the federal deficit, but we don't talk enough about the empathy deficit, a sense that I stand in somebody else's shoes, I see through their eyes. |
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2007-09-30 |
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Michelle Obama - State of Black Woman
|
2007-09-30 - Michelle Obama - US Has Empathy
Deficit Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Barack always says that one of our greatest challenges as a nation is not a deficit of resources – for we are one of the riches countries in the world; and it's not deficit of policies, because we have some of the greatest minds working on these issues. Instead, our greatest challenge is that we are living in a time when we are suffering from a deep empathy deficit. |
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2007-10-15 |
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Mack Apple
Orchard Londonderry NH @ c-span - (empathy section) (new) @ youtube (new) |
2007-10-15 - Mack Apple Orchard - Londonderry NH Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Who's your favorite past president? Lincoln, ...Stand in their shoes and have great empathy and great feeling for his fellow man.... |
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2007-11-28 |
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Michelle Obama - Indianola Iowa @ c-span (new) |
2007-11-28 - Michelle Obama -
Indianola Iowa.flv Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section ... and open-mindedness and faith and empathy, and it's funny that we live in a... ... we are suffering from the deficit of empathy and that is where you get back to that... |
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2007-12-31 |
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Michelle Obama - Grinnell Iowa @ c-span (new) |
2007-12-31- Michelle Obama - Grinnell Iowa Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section debt -- tremendous deficit of empathy. we have lost the understanding that. |
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2007-12-31 |
Michelle Obama at the Iowa Veterans Home,
Marshalltown Monday, December 31, 2007? |
Michelle Obama at the Iowa Veterans Home, Marshalltown. "We are suffering as a nation because we suffer a deficit of empathy." |
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2008-01-06 |
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Michelle Obama - Plymouth NH @ c-span (new) |
2008-01-06 - Michelle
Obama - Plymouth NH We have a deficit of empathy. We have a mutual obligation. |
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2008-01-20 |
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King Day at Ebenezer Baptist Church The Great Need of the Hour Atlanta, GA @ youtube @ barackobama.com |
2008-01-20
- King Day at Ebenezer Baptist Church Text & Vid Source - Text B Source 2 - Local Copy - Empathy Section I'm talking about a moral deficit. I'm talking about an empathy deficit. I'm taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper; |
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2008-01-21 |
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King Day at The Dome Columbia, SC. @ youtube |
2008-01-21
- King Day at The Dome Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section I'm talking about an empathy deficit that exists. I'm talking about an inability to recognize ourselves in each other, to understand that we are our brother's keeper, that we are our sister's keeper, that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny. We have an empathy deficit when we're still sending our children down corridors of shame instead of corridors of opportunity, not just in South Carolina but all across the United States of America. |
x | ||
2008-01-29 |
A![]() B ![]() |
Reclaiming the American Dream El Dorado, KS @ BarackObama.com A (full video is here) @ youtube B - (what is the difference between these 2 speeches?) |
2008-01-29 - Reclaiming the American Dream Text & Vid Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section This will not be easy. Because the change we seek will not just come from overcoming the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, it will require overcoming our own fears and our own doubts. It will require each of us to do our part in closing the moral deficit - the empathy deficit - that exists in this nation. It will take standing in one another's shoes and remembering that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper. |
x vx |
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2008-02-03 |
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Michelle Obama UCLA Rally @ c-span @ youtube (new) |
2008-02-03 - Michelle Obama UCLA Rally Text & Vid Source - On YouTube - Local Copy - Empathy Section We are suffering from a deficit of empathy. We have lost the understanding that in a democracy we have a mutual obligation... |
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2008-03-13 |
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Michelle Obama - Villanova Pennsylvania @ c-span (new) |
2008-03-13 - Michelle Obama - Villanova
Pennsylvania Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Suffering, he says, from a deficit of empathy. This is why I am here.. |
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2008-03-18 |
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Philadelphia: A More Perfect Union @ youtube |
2008-03-18 - Philadelphia - A More Perfect Union Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (More Perfect Union - patriotism means more caring) |
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2008-03-19 |
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Anderson Cooper
Interview @ youtube (need better clip of this interview, it has a squashed look) |
2008-03-19 - Anderson Cooper Interview Text? Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section I think is the core of patriotism, which is, you know, are we caring for each other? Are we upholding the values of our founders? Are we willing to sacrifice on behalf of future generations? (Patriotism starts with people caring about each other) |
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Anderson Cooper
Interview (copy 2) (need to find link to this) |
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2008-04-01 |
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Ann Currie Interview Today Show
@ msn |
2008-04-01
- Ann Currie Interview Today Show Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Text: most important thing your mother taught you, Obama says empathy. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes. |
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2008-05-25 |
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Wesleyan Commencement Ceremony @ youtube - ver 2A at 5:30 B, C |
2008-05-25
- Wesleyan Commencement Ceremony Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section But during my first two years of college, perhaps because the values my mother had taught me –hard work, honesty, empathy – had resurfaced after a long hibernation; or perhaps because of the example of wonderful teachers and lasting friends, I began to notice a world beyond myself. |
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2008-05-31 |
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Obama Church Resignation @ c-span (new) |
2008-05-31 - Obama Church Resignation Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section have them treat you, in the sense of empathy and a belief in the golden rule. |
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2008-06-15 |
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Father's Day Speech
Apostolic Church of God, Chicago, IL @ youtube @ c-span (new) |
2008-06-15 - Father's Day Speech Apostolic Church Chicago Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy – the ability to stand in somebody else's shoes; to look at the world through their eyes. |
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2008-07-10 |
(need video) |
Remarks of Senator
Barack Obama: Joint Event with Senator Hillary Clinton |
2008-07-10 - Remarks Joint Event with Senator
Hillary Clinton Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section But the Supreme Court also affects women's lives in so many other ways – from decisions on equal pay, to workplace discrimination, to Title IX, to domestic violence, to civil rights and workers' rights. And the question we face in this election is whether we'll have judges who demonstrate sound judgment and empathy, who understand how law operates in our daily lives, who are committed to upholding the values at the core of our Constitution – or judges who put ideology before justice, with our fundamental rights as the first casualty. |
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2008-08-05 |
A&E Biography Barack Obama |
2008-08-05
- A&E Biography Barack Obama Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (check for empathy quotes, are none, it's more historical bio) |
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2008-08-16 |
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Saddleback Civil Forum on the
Presidency @ youtube - empathy section @ youtube - full interview |
2008-08-16 - Saddleback
Civil Forum on the Presidency Text & Vid Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Warren: tell me in a minute why you want to be president. OBAMA: You know, I remember what my mother used to tell me. I was talking to somebody a while back, and I said, the one time that she'd get really angry with me is if she ever thought that I was being mean to somebody or unfair to somebody. She said, imagine standing in their shoes, imagine looking through their eyes. That basic idea of empathy. |
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2008-08-28 |
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Barack Obama at the 2008 DNC The American Promise @ youtube |
2008-08-28 - Barack Obama
at the 2008 DNC Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section (any empathy stories in this speech?) |
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2008-08-28 |
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2008
DNC: Barack Obama Tribute Biography Video @ youtube |
2008-08-28 - 2008 DNC:
Barack Obama Tribute Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section 1. The only time I ever saw my mother really angry is when she saw cruelty, when she saw somebody being bullied or somebody being treated differently because of who they were. And, if she saw me doing that, she would be furious. And she would say to me: "Imagine standing in that person's shoes. How would that make you feel?" That simple idea, I'm not sure I always understood when I was a kid, but it stayed with me. 2. What I want is a family that is transmitting the values I inherited, the values that Michelle inherited to the next generation: hard work, honesty, self-reliance, respect for other people, a sense of empathy, kindness, faith. |
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2008-09-17 |
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Steve
Kroft - 60 Minutes interview Elko, NV @ cbsNews
|
2008-09-17 - Steve
Kroft - 60 Minutes interview - Elko NV Text part 1 - Text part 2 Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section That sense of putting' yourself in somebody else's shoes, and seeing through their eyes. And what's shaped me most powerfully -- maybe because I'm half black and half white -- that a big chunk of my childhood, I was sort of an outsider, didn't quite fit anywhere. |
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2008-10-20 |
Pinay girl writes to Obama, gets response |
2008-10-20 - Pinay
girl writes to Obama Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section “If you don't already know what it means, I want you to look up the word ‘empathy' in the dictionary. I believe we don't have enough empathy in our world today, and it is up to your generation to change that.” |
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2008-10-23 |
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Maya on Her and Barack's Mother @ youtube |
2008-10-23 - Maya on
Her and Baracks Mother Text Source - Local Copy - Empathy Section Maya says Barack learned empathy from their mother. Maya, "She was the most empathetic person I know and she encouraged that in Barack, I think, and she is the one that gave him his ability to connect with so many people. " |
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Other Empathy Links | ||||||
2005-01-25 | PBS
Nova: About Mirror
Neurons |
Mirror neurons as source of empathy - very good! | x | |||
date ??? |
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About Mirror Neurons | Mirror neurons as source of empathy - | x | ||
2007-04-25 |
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Acting and Mirror Neurons
|
Mirror neurons as source of empathy and how it relates to acting. Has a panel of scientists and actors. | |||
Other: Criticisms, Comments, etc. of Barack Obama and Empathy | |||
Notes | |||
George Lakoff on Barack Obama's Empathy
Campaign Commonwealth Club of California SF, CA Jun 20th, 2008 |
George Lakoff attributes Barack Obama's popularity to his messages of empathy, caring, and human dignity. To Obama, the basis of human kindness is not reliant upon any political platform but on the core values of empathy and fairness. Empathy is at the center of the Obama campaign shows up in foreign policy. | ||
National Character -analysis on NPR of Barack Obama's call for more empathy. | Local: many speeches Obama talks bout the empathy deficits. Aspect of the national character & touchy feely (critique). | ||
Rep. Chris Smith disparages Obama's 'empathy deficit' | |||
Obama: 911 Attack Caused by “Lack of Empathy” | |||
the-soft-underbelly-empathy | |||
Empathy and Ethics: Drivers of Our Shifting Culture (audio on flora.tv) | In this panel discussion on empathy and ethics, Bill Drayton, Mary Gordon, Keith Hammonds, Kirk Hanson and Jill Vialet consider how empathetic ethics has to begin with individuals and can only then move into the organizations we lead and the societies we serve. | ||
The Politics Of Empathy And Barack Obama, Beverly Darling. | Text: "In numerous interviews and books Obama talks about one of the most important and greatest characteristics that his mother instilled in him: Empathy! For Obama, empathy means putting yourself in another persons shoes, having feelings for others, and being able to understand another individuals perspective." | ||
Lists of Barack Obama's Speeches
Other Links On Empathy
Empathy Bowl '08: Palin vs. Obama:
aritcle by Mark Fisher, talks about empathy. He mentions, "Colleen Shogan, a research manager at the Congressional Research Service, who very presciently has been exploring the role empathy plays in presidential leadership."Honor, Empathy And The Limits Of Political Virtue
(an article about Obama and empathy)
John McCain, stakes his life and his nation's fate, on honor, whatever the cost. Barack Obama is a human seismometer, sensing the needs of his interlocutors--enemies and friends--before he acts.
by Paul Starobin "You cannot influence a person that you do not make an effort to understand," Robert McNamara said in an April 2005 speech at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Rhode Island. "Today we don't do this. It's a lack of the willingness to move toward empathy."Cells That Read Minds, NY Times Article,
Seeing movies increases empathy
“Mirror neurons allow us to grasp the minds of others not through conceptual reasoning but through direct simulation. By feeling, not by thinking.”Empathy Now Forum for Nonviolent Communication (NVC)