A person’s thoughts and feelings are founded by human emotions. Human emotions can help show one’s mood, emotions, and personality. It shows how a person reacts to another thing or person as it also influences their behavior.
Some basic human emotions include fear, happiness, sadness, and sorrow. Two of these basic emotions with an almost similar meaning and perspective are pity and compassion.
Pity Vs. Compassion
The main difference between these two emotions is that pity is associated with disgrace and sorrow when one’s life is in misery and trouble. Compassion on the other hand is a feeling of empathy towards a person that is going through a difficult time.
The word pity came from an old French word pit, which means duty. It’s also derived from the Latin word pietas which also means duty. The world is meant to show some form of sympathy for a certain period over a saddening situation.
The word compassion on the other hand is derived from the Latin word compassion which means to suffer or co-suffer respectively. Compassion allows a person to feel another person’s sorrow or grief and puts them in a position to help or assist that is going through this moment of grief.
Comparison between Pity and Compassion
- The term pity is used to label someone that is going through disgrace while compassion implies an emotion that still shows respect even in the event of sorrow.
- The term pity is entirely dependent on negative vibe and behavior. Compassion on the other hand is the exact opposite. It is dependent on positive vibe and behavior.
- Pity is more of a person’s emotion while compassion is both a virtue and a form of emotion.
- There is no sense of empathy towards a person with whom pity is being shown. In compassion, however, there is a lot of empathy shown towards the person going through pity or grief.
- Unlike pity, which dwells more on the disgraced one goes through, compassion is followed by feelings of love and care for the person that is going through the season of grief.
What is Pity?
The word pity is derived from ‘pit’ which is an old French word meaning duty. It is also derived from the Latin word “pietas” which also means duty. While the world is meant to spike some feelings of sympathy towards a person going through hardship and difficulty, the word pity tends to glorify and disgrace a person going through a difficult time.
The word pity can be used to help someone try and fit in the shoes of the person going through a difficult time in order to be able to help them. The needs of the person could be emotional, financial, and even physical. The only way to feel pity is to understand the torment and pain a person going through, from very difficult experiences.
It is important for one to feel the pain of the subject going through a difficult time in order to express pity in the right way.
What is Compassion?
The word compassion comes from the Latin word compassion, which means to co-suffer or to suffer altogether. It is a state of emotion where a person is able to deeply feel the pain and the sadness another person is going through. Being able to deeply feel these other people’s emotions of grief sets you up in a position to be able to help them.
There tends to be a similarity between the feeling of compassion and that of pity. The behavior also seems quite similar but the two have their own differences. You can feel compassion towards another person without the sorrow coming about in a sudden state. You can feel compassion the very moment you know what the other person is going through.
In many religions, compassion is considered a feeling of great virtue. One of the religions that embrace compassion is Christianity. Compassion is said to be accompanied by wisdom, which helps you know a person is going through a difficult time to be able to help them. It is a complete desire to be there for a person who is going through a very difficult period.
Difference between Pity and Compassion
- Pity refers to the act of labeling a person because of the disgraceful situations that they have or are going through. Compassion on the other hand implies being able to show respect to a person’s situation of grief and sorrow.
- Pity is a term that is accompanied by a negative vibe and behavior while compassion is the exact opposite. It is accompanied by a positive vibe and behavior.
- Pity is purely a form of emotion towards a person while compassion is not just an emotion, it is also a virtue.
- While showing pity towards someone and the situation they are going through, there is no form of empathy that accompanies it. Compassion on the other hand shows complete empathy for the person going through a very difficult situation.
- Compassion is a feeling that is accompanied by love and cares towards the person going through a difficult time. Pity on the other hand is purely a feeling of condensation. There is no love and care towards the person going through difficulty.
Conclusion
In conclusion, human emotions are broad enough to show what a person is going through. This can be depicted by a person’s mood, emotion, and personality. It shows how a person reacts towards another, from the situations that they are going through.
Pity and compassion are feelings that are almost similar but are very different in their own way. For instance, when you have pity towards someone, you are not necessarily empathetic about the situation they are going through. This is because your feelings of pity are not accompanied by actions of love and care.
On the other hand, having compassion towards someone means that you are completely empathetic about the situation they are going through. You can completely fit in their show and as such, you can accompany the feelings of compassion with love and care towards the person.