Pity vs Compassion: Difference and Comparison

The emotions of humans are the foundation of a person’s thoughts and feelings. Human emotions can show one’s emotions, mood, and personality.

Key Takeaways

1. Pity is a feeling of sadness or sorrow towards someone’s misfortune, while compassion is a feeling of empathy and concern for someone’s suffering.
2. Pity may be condescending, while compassion involves a desire to help or alleviate someone’s suffering.
3. Pity may be a fleeting emotion, while compassion is a more sustained feeling that may lead to action.

Pity vs Compassion

Pity is an emotion that is often triggered by seeing someone in a difficult or unfortunate situation, such as experiencing illness, poverty, or loss. Compassion is an emotion that involves a deeper sense of connection and empathy for others. Compassion is often accompanied by a desire to alleviate suffering and to take action to help others.

The word ‘pity is derived from an old French word that is ‘pit which means duty, and from the Latin word ‘pietas,’ which means duty too. This world is intended to state a kind of sympathy or a feeling and a capacity to share the sorrows of one’s miserable state of life for a certain period.

The word ‘compassion’ is derived from the Latin word ‘compassion which means to co-suffer and suffer, respectively.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Pity	Compassion
Meaning	The term ‘pity’ is implied by labeling a person from his events of sorrow and Disgrace.	The term ‘compassion’ implies those events that still show respect going through sorrow.
Type of context	Their term ‘pity’ shows a form of Negative vibes and behavior.	The term ‘compassion’ shows a form of positive vibe and behavior.
Form	‘Pity is a form of the emotion of a person	‘Compassion is a form of virtue and emotion by a person.
Sense	The term ‘pity’ does not show a sense of empathy towards a person’s situation.	The term ‘compassion’ shows a sense of empathy towards a person for his situation.
Type of feeling	A ‘pity’ is a feeling which shows a sense of Condescension.	‘Compassion is a feeling followed by a sense of love and care.

What is Pity?

The word ‘pity is derived from an old French word that is ‘pit which means duty, and from the Latin word ‘pietas,’ which means duty too. This world is intended to state a kind of sympathy or a feeling and a capacity to share the sorrows of one’s miserable state of life for a specific time.

A person can feel the emotion of ‘pity’ only when he knows how the pain was when he was in the same situation.

One must be able to feel a person’s pain and emotion. Whenever a person goes through the emotion of sorrow, care should be taken to give a proper amount of ‘pity’ regarding one’s physical, mental, and social well-being.

What is Compassion?

The word ‘compassion’ is derived from the Latin word ‘compassion which means to co-suffer and suffer, respectively. Compassion is a state of emotion that states an awareness of another person’s sorrow and engraves a capacity to help the person in need through grief.

A feel of ‘compassion’ can be felt by a person towards another only when the sorrow is not in a sudden state. A person can experience compassion simply by knowing what someone is experiencing around his surroundings.

‘Compassion is said to be a part of wisdom and care a person can show with his personality like a gem. It shows the desire of a person to help someone at his worst.

Main Differences Between Pity and Compassion

1. The term ‘pity’ is implied by labeling a person from his events of sorrow and Disgrace, and on the other hand, the word ‘compassion’ means those events which still show a form of respect going through grief.
2. Their term ‘pity’ shows a form of Negative vibes and behavior; on the other hand, ‘compassion’ shows a form of positive vibes and behavior.

References

1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3751843
2. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230627895_9