A World without Empathy

“Silence has been destroyed, but also the idea that it’s important to learn how another person thinks, to enter the mind of another person. The whole idea of empathy is gone. We are now part of this giant machine where every second we have to take out a device and contribute our thoughts and opinions.”

~ Gary Shteyngart, from “The Russian Immigrant’s Handbook,” interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (July 13, 2010)

“Empathy is the mortar that holds society together.”

~ Chuck Close, from “Strangers in the Mirror,” Radiolab Shorts (June 15, 2010)