"To touch can be to give life."
— Michelangelo in "Hands on Research: The Science of Touch"
"The first emotional comfort, touching and being touched by our mother, remains the ultimate memory of selfless love, which stays with us life long."
— Diane Ackerman in A Natural History of the Senses
"Touch deprivation is a reality in American culture as a whole. … It's not just babies needing to be touched in caring ways or the sick. It's not just doctors and nurses needing to extend it. It's all of us, needing connection, needing to receive it, needing to give it, with genuine happiness at stake."
— Rev Anthony David in "The Power of Touch" by Nora Brunner
"At the outset of a romance, the first touch that people share is usually the taking of each other's hand. … Holding the hand of someone ill or elderly soothes them and gives them an emotional lifeline."
— Diane Ackerman in A Natural History of the Senses
"Touch is far more essential than our other senses. … It's ten times stronger than verbal or emotional contact."
— Saul Schanberg in A Natural History of the Senses
"Although not everyone is blessed with a healing touch, our touch can be a source of healing and blessing for others, especially when accompanied by a brief prayer."
— Tom Cowan in The Way of Saints
"Clothing stores are marvelous places to advance your tactile education. Visit your favorite to touch the tweeds, embrace the brocades, shimmy into the silks, and meet the starch cotton on its own terms."
— Jean Houston in A Passion for the Possible
"Put something unusual on a finger of your dominant hand. Some possibilities include a different ring, a Band-Aid, a dot of nail polish on one nail, or a small mark made with a colored pen. Each time you notice the marker, remember to use loving hands, loving touch."
— Jan Chozen Bays in How to Train a Wild Elephant and Other Adventures in Mindfulness
"The Koran says that God is closer than the vein in your neck. … Begin by placing your first and second fingers on your throat's jugular vein. … What better way to be mindful of the nearness of the Presence than to actually feel it vibrating on your fingertips? To gain the attention of God, your intimate Beloved, does not require bellowing prayers, clanging bells, or thunderous pipe-organ preludes. A silent sensual touch can profoundly awaken you to God's perpetual attention to you and your needs."
— Edward Hays in Prayer Notes to a Friend
"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts."
— Charles Dickens in Love Online: Emotions on the Internet
"Trade technology for touch (at least temporarily). When you really want to connect, hold your partner's hands, look your coworker in the eyes, hug your child. Eye contact and physical touch increase connection."
— Deborah K. Heisz in Live Happy
"Everything we touch becomes a jewel for our enjoyment. We do not have to possess them, because every jewel is available for our delight. Everyone and everything here is a jewel."
— Thich Nhat Hahn in Cultivating the Mind of Love
"Too often we underestimate the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
— Leo Buscaglia in The Way of Conflict
"A pat on the back, a caress of the arm — these everyday, incidental gestures that we usually take for granted, thanks to our amazingly dexterous hands. But after years spent immersed in the science of touch, I can tell you that they are far more profound than we usually realize: They are our primary language of compassion, and a primary means for spreading compassion."
— Dacher Keltner in "Hands on Research: The Science of Touch"
"Paradise is attained by touch."
— Helen Keller in Divining the Body by Jan Phillips
"The more we learn about touch, the more we realize just how central it is in all aspects of our lives — cognitive, emotional, developmental, behavioral — from womb into old age. It's no surprise that a single touch can affect us in multiple, powerful ways."
— Maria Konnikova in "The Power of Touch"
"Touch is not optional for human development. … From consumer choice to sexual intercourse, from tool use to chronic pain to the process of healing, the genes, cells, and neural circuits involved in the sense of touch have been crucial to creating our unique human experience."
— David J. Linden in Touch
"Of all the gifts we can give to people, the gift of our touch is one of the most priceless. Through our hands we convey a kind of radiance. A warmth seeps out from our inner fire, a wrap for someone's chill, a light for another's dark."
— Jan Phillips in Divining the Body
"The first sense to ignite, touch is the last to burn out: long after our eyes betray us, our hands remain faithful to the world. … in describing such final departures, we often talk of losing touch."
— Frederick Sachs in A Natural History of the Senses
