Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life summary
Karen Armstrong
The step-by-step guide to bringing more compassion into the world
15 mins
Brief summary
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong is a guide for developing compassion in ourselves and others. It provides 12 practical steps to cultivate empathy and kindness, and unlock our full potential for love and wisdom.
Topics
Table of Contents
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
Summary of 8 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 8
Compassion is our natural ability to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes.
When you turn on the TV, you’ll find no shortage of horror stories. We see refugees turned away at the border, the brutality of war, starvation and poverty, and an increasing imbalance of power and wealth across the globe. This begs for a counterforce of compassion.
But what do we even mean when we say “compassion”?
Compassion means enduring something with someone. It comes from the Latin word patiri, which means “to suffer, undergo or experience.” When you feel compassion for someone, you essentially feel that person’s pain as if it were your own.
In practice, compassion can be summed up by the Golden Rule, which nearly all faiths share: treat others as you would have them treat you.
It was this principle that motivated philanthropists such as the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, to action. And it is what inspired Martin Luther King Jr. to fight against the oppression of his fellow African Americans and lead the civil rights movement.
If we are to cultivate compassion, then surely it must come from somewhere. But where?
Compassion, as well as its nemesis, selfishness, are hard-wired into our brains.
Our selfishness is rooted in what you might call our “old brain” – that is, the brain functions we share with our reptilian ancestors and which work to ensure our personal survival.
Over millennia we have evolved a “new brain” that coexists with the old one. We can thank this neocortex for our reasoning, reflection and compassion.
The new brain is what causes us to search for meaning rather than simply creature comforts. It’s what inspires our interest in art, religion and fellow humans.
The neocortex, as well as the brain system called the limbic system, is linked to positive emotions, such as joy and maternal affection. As a result, our old and new brains are in constant conflict.
With a firm understanding of compassion, the following blinks will outline the 12 steps that you can start using today to bring compassion into your life.
Want to see all full key ideas from Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life?
Key ideas in Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life about?
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life is a step-by-step guide to bringing more compassion into the world. It shows you in concrete terms how you can cultivate compassion in your everyday life, and helps you to do your part in making the world a better place.
Best quote from Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
Compassion can be defined...as an attitude of principled, consistent altruism.
—Karen Armstrong
Who should read Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life?
- Anyone who wants to live a more compassionate life
- Anyone who is interested in the history of compassion
- Anyone who is quick to anger
Categories with Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
Book summaries like Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked these summaries
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
29 Million
Downloads on all platforms
10+ years
Experience igniting personal growth