Roman Krznaric quotes

Roman Krznaric is a public philosopher and author known for his work on empathy, happiness, and social change. He is the founder of the Empathy Museum and the School of Life's Practical Philosophy department. Roman has written several bestselling books, including "Empathy: Why It Matters, and How to Get It" and "The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking." With a background in political science and philosophy, Roman is a sought-after speaker and has presented at TED and the United Nations. Stay updated on Roman Krznaric's latest projects and philosophies to unlock a more empathetic and fulfilling life.

t this moment in history the dominant force is clear: we live in an age of pathological short-termism. Politicians can barely see beyond the next election or the latest opinion poll or tweet. Businesses are slaves to the next quarterly report and the constant demand to ratchet up shareholder value.

- Roman Krznaric

In an incredibly short period of time we have endangered a world that took billions of years to evolve. We are just a tiny link in the great chain of living organisms, so who are we to put it all in jeopardy with our ecological blindness and deadly technologies? Don’t we have an obligation, a responsibility, to our planetary future and the generations of humans and other species to come?

- Roman Krznaric

What is your current work doing to you as a person – to your mind, character and relationships?

- Roman Krznaric

The most emotionally corrosive form of regret occurs when we fail to take action on something that matters deeply to us.

- Roman Krznaric

The consequence is that we often become psychologically paralysed, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. We get so worried about regretting making a bad choice that we may end up making no decision at all, and remain frozen in our current unfulfilling career.

- Roman Krznaric

Simply by devoting ourselves to work that gives us deep fulfilment through meaning, flow and freedom, over time, a tangible and inspiring goal may quietly germinate, grow larger, and eventually flower into life.

- Roman Krznaric

In a world where no one is compelled to work more than four hours a day, every person possessed of scientific curiosity will be able to indulge it, and every painter will be able to paint without starving, however excellent his pictures may be. There will be happiness and joy of life, instead of frayed nerves, weariness and dyspepsia.

- Roman Krznaric

In a culture obsessed with hard work and career success, it can be difficult to wean ourselves off the work ethic. And we may not want to if we are engrossed in a career that is making us feel fully alive. But if we do seek the advantages of a four-day week, and the space to nurture other parts of who we are, then we might be wise to put our hopes in the virtues of simple living.

- Roman Krznaric

If the diver always thought of the shark, he would never lay hands on the pearl,’ said Sa’di, a Persian poet from the thirteenth century.

- Roman Krznaric

He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.

- Roman Krznaric

Although people occasionally have those explosive epiphanies, more commonly a vocation crystallizes slowly, almost without us realizing it.

- Roman Krznaric

According to official Myers–Briggs documents, the test can give you an insight into what kinds of work you might enjoy and be successful doing.

- Roman Krznaric

A vocation is a career that not only gives you fulfillment – meaning, flow, freedom – but that also has a definitive goal or a clear purpose to strive for attached to it, which drives your life and motivates you to get up in the morning,

- Roman Krznaric

What all stereotyping has in common, whether it is a product of politics, religion, nationalism, or other forces, is an effort to dehumanize, to erase individuality, to prevent us from looking someone in the eye and learning their name. The consequence is to create a culture of indifference that empathy finds difficult to penetrate.

- Roman Krznaric

It is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act.

- Roman Krznaric

Highly empathic people are engaged in a constant search for what they share with other people, even when those people appear alien to them.

- Roman Krznaric

Empathy is the art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives, and using that understanding to guide your actions.

- Roman Krznaric

Empathy is a constant awareness of the fact that your concerns are not everyone’s concerns and that your needs are not everyone’s needs.

- Roman Krznaric

Curiosity expands our empathy when we talk to people outside our usual social circle, encountering lives and worldviews very different from our own.

- Roman Krznaric

A first step is to humanize our imaginations by developing an awareness of all those individuals hidden behind the surface of our daily lives, on whom we might depend in some way.

- Roman Krznaric

Spitz’s shocking research revealed that human affection may be even more critical to survival than food and shelter or was at least of equal importance in our hierarchy of needs.

- Roman Krznaric