Intellectual understanding blocks empathy.

Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic expression of an unmet need.

We are responsible for what we hear other people say and for how we act.

Tragically, one of the rarest commodities in our culture is empathy. People are hungry for empathy, They don't know how to ask for it.

The Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti once remarked that observing without evaluating is the highest form of human intelligence. When I first read this statement, the thought, 'What nonsense!' shot through my mind before I realized that I had just made an evaluation.

NVC is founded on language and communication skills that strengthen our ability to remain human, even under trying conditions.

We're not taught to think in terms of needs. We don't make nice dead people when we're in touch with needs. Domination structures cannot maintain themselves when citizens are educated to be alive.