Early this morning I was looking for an inspirational quote that used the word "pity" in a way showed my thoughts above, but I couldn't find anything. I searched and searched for it on the interwebs, but every quote I came upon used pity in a positive context. I was so confused, so I looked up "pity" in the dictionary and here was the definition:
....
Pit·y
/ˈpitē/
Noun
| |||||||||
Verb
| |||||||||
Synonyms
....
I read the definition over and over again thinking it was wrong. "Compassion" is NOT a synonym of "Pity. When I hear the word compassion, I envision the love and generosity of mankind. That people see someone working so hard to follow their dreams in spite of all their struggles and are so moved that they want to help that person reach their full potential in whatever way they can. They help because they believe in someone's potential.
In an effort to soothe my soul, I looked up the word "compassion":
....
Com·pas·sion
/kəmˈpaSHən/
|
to me, the biggest difference between pity and compassion is who is being empowered. often, when compassion is spoken of, the person in suffering is being empowered by the sympathy or empathy of another. subsequent works are done in the interest of easing the suffering of that person.
ReplyDeletepity, on the other hand, if often used to empower the speaker. as if they are comparing their situation to yours and, through pity, feeling better about their own situation. any works done out of pity are done to give the doer a reason to pat themselves on the back, to check off their good deed for the day.
at least that's my 3 cents.
I agree, 100%. And that's why I hope to see more compassion in my life than pity.
DeleteThanks for the comment!
Hello, Friend. This post made me think of musicality or the sound of each word. The hard sounds in pity, combined with it's short two syllables turn it into a harsher word when it hits the ear. Compassion, on the other hand with it's three syllables and it's mmmm and shhhh are more lulling. Remember how we began speaking in appropriate sounds and then made them into words. Just a thought I had while considering your very interesting post.
ReplyDeletea·dore
ReplyDelete/əˈdôr/
Verb
1. Love and respect (someone) deeply
I adore you, Josh! Thanks for this post and thanks for being you!!