It is impossible to express the meaning of the word "compassion" in one word. If you look at the dictionaries, they will say that this is sympathy for the grief or misfortune of another person, pity for him. And it seems that synonyms have been given to us: mercy, pity, kindness, but not one of them conveys such a multifaceted feeling as compassion.
The meaning of the word "compassion"
Two words (sympathy and compassion) are united by one prefix "co", the meaning of which is involvement in something, participation. Compassion for another, trying to understand what a person experiences, worry, regret, try on his feelings for himself. Compassion, you suffer with him, you experience his pain, his misfortune, his grief, trying them on yourself.
The Bible teaches us not to be blind to the grief of others, disease or poverty. Anyone who knows how to sympathize, even for someone else’s guilt, does not close his eyes - he cannot afford it. The path to compassion is not easy. To be able to empathize with another, you must first know yourself and the reasons for what is happening.
Do not ridicule human actions, do not be upset by them, but understand.
That's what Spinoza said in The Political Treatise.
Compassion in literature
It is not without reason that in the exam essay the meaning of the word "compassion" is often said. The compilers aim to make teenagers reflect on this feeling and find examples in the literature.
Many, many writers have addressed the topic of compassion. Can we imagine that Sonechka Marmeladova accused Raskolnikov of murder? She does not blame, she is trying to understand, warm with a word, good, just be near. She is sorry for the children (absolutely strangers to her!), And she sacrifices herself. She is sorry for Raskolnikov, and she goes after him to hard labor.
And Dr. Pirogov from the Christmas story "Wonderful Doctor"? The real story is when one person did not pass the misfortune of another, desperate, already thinking about suicide. Pirogov saved the children from illness and the whole family from hunger, giving them a chance at life. Probably more than the money left by the doctor under the saucer, it was precisely his compassion that they did not find in other people.
Yes, compassion makes a person understand that he is not alone with his misfortune, that there is someone nearby who will lend a helping hand or just warm him with a kind word.