Pity, sympathy and compassion are grossly synonymous and all are in good standing as virtuous words. They have shades of meaning, however, which, while subtle from the linguistic standpoint, are profoundly significant from the psychological. The dictionary distinguishes them as follows:
---
Pity:
Sympathy:
Compassion:
....
These words, all expressive of attitudes towards the suffering of others, are graded in terms of actual participation in, or closeness to, or identification with, such sufferings.
---
Pity:
Sympathy:
Compassion:
....
These words, all expressive of attitudes towards the suffering of others, are graded in terms of actual participation in, or closeness to, or identification with, such sufferings.
