Compassion

Compassion is a positive response and desire to help with an inner motivation to lessen or prevent suffering of others.Compassion: An Evolutionary Analysis and Empirical ReviewWhat is compassion and how can we measure it? A review of definitions and measures - ScienceDirectCompassion Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2011)

Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. The word “compassion” comes from Latin and Greek to mean “to suffer with.” Compassion means to suffer with another, and it includes a spontaneous desire to alleviate that suffering. Pity and compassion are closely related words but have subtle differences. The difference is that compassion usually involves some commitment to help. Pity does not usually require any personal involvement.David Konstan, Pity Transformed (London: Duckworth, 2001), pp. 21–22

 Related pages 
 Charity
 Empathy
 Pity
 Sympathy

 References 

Category:Emotions
Category:Virtues
Category:Love