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The importance of compassion
Compassion definition essay
Compassion definition essay
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The word compassion is initially derived from Latin; it combines prefix “com-” and suffix “passio,” which means suffering in Latin. For this connection, compassion can be seen as a human emotion prompted by the pain of others. Although compassion somewhat involves a similar meaning of pity, it is not a feeling only limited in mental level. It is a strong emotion shown in people’s actions. The actions are the spirit of compassion, and these actions are the description of their love. In many literatures, authors always endow different characters compassion. No matter what relationships they are, or what contradictions they have, the compassion surpasses any disasters, conflicts and hatred in the end.
When a great misfortune befalls Luke’s family, he puts his compassion on the family for responsibility. After Luke’s parents die, his brother and sisters are faced with a separation. Matt has to quite school and goes to work to support the sisters’ life. In addition, the two little sisters are arranged to live with strangers. All these changes excite Luke’s compassion for his family. He f...
He always wants to help someone else in need before himself, whereas the father is only concerned about their own personal wellbeings. He “is the one” who worries about their ethical choices and wants to help a stranger in any way he can (259). McCarthy proves the importance of the boy’s spirit of love for other people when his dad dies and he must take the leap of faith to continue along the road with a new family. Despite all the corrupted people they encountered beforehand, the boy meets someone who is “carrying the fire” (129). This mantra by the father and son, symbolizes hope and humanity. The qualities Steinbeck labels for a writer to create in his writings can be summed up in “carrying the fire” since the two never did give up. It is the greatness of the heart and spirit Steinbeck notes that is “inside [them]. [And] [i]t [is] always there” (279). It is noteworthy that even in the midst of death and ashes, the two are able to hold onto their relationship and sanity. The “good guys” can continue to carry meaning and structure in their lives, even in a time where society turned into a battle to survive on the remnants of
However, the family is described as a unit that allows people to interact with the larger social unit of a society. This is because the family is a unit within a large societal unit that involves different pressures especially for kids as they grow. Weiser (17) argues that every person has a way of living and determining their liberal life especially in the democratic world. In line with this point, the movie shows how Tom decided to lead his life despite the love of his doting mother. The destiny of the two boys, Tom and Matt, who live in good families is i...
Compassion has became something rare in our society, and something that a lot of people lack. The author, Barbara Lazear Ascher, explains to us that compassion is not a character trait, but rather something that we learn along the way with the help of real life situations we encounter, such as the ones she encountered herself. Ascher persuades her audience that compassion is not just something you are born with by using anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and allusions.
Heroes are often perceived as characters who leap great distances in a single bound. However, they actually have three distinct stages where they develop into the character we grow to love. In George Lucas` “StarWars IV: A New Hope.” Luke Skywalker is a quintessence of of an archetypal hero because he goes through initiation stage through distinct phases of separation, transformation and the return stage. Luke Skywalker begins his journey as farmer boy on a remote planet and becomes the hero of the galaxy. However, this process the not happen quickly. Rather, it is a difficult journey where is is faced with multiple tests and obstacles and pushes his endurance to the limit.
There are many different types of characters in stories, and each has been described differently leaving different impression to readers. Reading some stories gives the readers the feeling of empathy for characters. Speaking about characteristic, it is great to know how a character feels in order to understand the story. Through this essay, I would like to show how stories make the readers feel empathy to other’s concerns, feelings, and troubles.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, once said “frequently people think compassion and love are merely sentimental. No! They are very demanding. If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action” (values.com). When one thinks of compassion, sympathy and sorrow come to mind. However, compassion also is accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. This can be accomplished by standing up for what one believes is right. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee deeply develops her theme that compassion is understanding someone else’s perspective and using this compassion to stand up against society.
In the Gospel of Luke, it is emphasized that God cares for the poor and lowly.The Gospel of Luke was written on 80-90 AD. Luke was a Gentile who converted to Christianity. He is also the companion of Saint Paul and the author of Acts of the Apostles. Luke aims to reach to the lowly through Jesus, by bringing them liberty and good news that they too are welcomed in heaven. Jesus shows this in many acts such as recovering sight of the blind, releasing the imprisoned, and freeing the oppressed. As a result, Luke shows Jesus as a compassionate savior because he seeks to save those who are in need and give the lowly God’s mercy.
...involving the confrontation between the mother and her son, Julian seizes the opportunity to berate his mother so she can see how ignorant she is and how he has elevated himself to a status higher than hers. Tragically, this incident leads to his mother’s stroke. It is only at this moment of his mother’s helplessness that all three worlds collide together. Julian’s world of self-righteousness and his mother’s world of self-importance are shattered by the world of reality. Only then is truth apparent to all of the characters in the story.
Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). The social psychology of compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 207-214.
One fact that is interesting is how Joan Halifax explains those previously mentioned “those eyes and hands” which were fierce and wrathful were used tenderly and wisely as well. She describes of people who have those characteristics would “touch” other’s lives for the better when she gave many emotionally touching examples. She mentions stories of kindness or how women, an old man, etc. kindly care for ugly people who others would run away from due to victim’s disgusting appearance. The reason why Joan Halifax mentioned this is because those caretakers are able to see clearly in to victim’s nature of suffering as their own. That is why those kind people can’t be helped to be close to poor souls as they feel familiar with. That is why people
One of the ideas the story of Lucas and Claus illustrates is that life can be tumultuous and disordered, achieved first by Kristof using the bombing of their homeland during war. Devastation that war produces, rebuilding foundations, searching for family members, and restoring normalcy is a long tortuous process. Second, having their family torn apart by the father’s infidelity (Kristof 435). The upheaval that took place in the lives of these children Kristof
Therein lies the unique chance for a sick soul to heal, to be cleansed and rested. But good cannot come of evil, and so the sickness of his soul only further infects his state of being. His mental disintegration, once proposed to be on purpose, continues uncontrolled. In the desert of his mind, void with the utter emptiness of the knowledge of death (his father's and the death of his faith in his mother) lies the supreme enemy to neurotic despair: romantic love. For romantic love assures power, it can create a sense of purpose, inspire heroism and beauty.
In life as well as literature, some sought to display their sensibility by weeping and fainting and blushing and reacting extravagantly to scenes of poverty or illness. Sensibility was understood as a capacity intimately connected with the physical nature of nerves. Essential to its existence was its operation on the body as well as the mind. Thus a propensity to blush and weep might be taken as evidence that the weepers, full of sensibility, loved their neighbours as themselves. (Spacks 141)
When Autrey saw Peter suffering, Autrey also experiences pain. For example, Autrey believes that Peter would lose his limbs or even life if he does not save Peter. Such a depressing and horrifying thoughts and imageries might have led to Autrey 's own pain which subsequently generates helping behavior that relieves the pain. In addition, Autrey’s thought of Peter losing his limbs might simultaneously provoke the experiences of a more selfless concern for the victim. For example, the thought of Peter losing his life might have prompted Autrey to imagine Peter 's disabled life after losing his limbs. As a result, Autrey helped Peter because Autrey does not want Peter to lead a miserable and disabled life. In addition, both personal distress and empathic concern might interact with each other. In other words, personal distress might enhance empathic concern, and vice versa. In short, the interaction between personal distress and emphatic concern together triggers Autrey 's
Empathy, at the turn of the century, was described as a “unique combination of cognitive effort and bodily feeling, thought to characterize aesthetic feelings,” and had been described as so for many years, much like, sympathy. Empathy, however, broke off from the word sympathy and has since been deemed differently as, “moral activity and a more specific physio-psychological process in how our brain is hardwired,” but empathy and sympathy are still thought to share key features in the 20th century, and society couldn’t be more wrong in using the word empathy so loosely. Sympathy is merely and understanding of one’s emotional state, where empathy is the extreme sense, awareness, and feeling of another’s emotional