It is impossible to express the meaning of the word "compassion" in one word. If we turn to dictionaries, they will say that this is sympathy for the grief or misfortune of another person, pity for him. And it seems that we are given synonyms: mercy, pity, kindness, but none of them conveys such a multifaceted feeling as compassion.
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. Sympathizing with another, you try to understand what a person is experiencing, you worry, you regret, you try on his feelings for yourself. Compassionate, you suffer with him, you experience his pain, his unhappiness, his grief, trying them on yourself.
The Bible teaches us not to be blind to another's grief, sickness, or poverty. The one who knows how to sympathize does not even turn a blind eye to someone else's guilt - 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 causeshappening.
Do not ridicule human actions, do not be upset by them, but understand.
Thus spoke Spinoza in the Political Treatise.
Compassion in Literature
It is not for nothing that the meaning of the word "compassion" is mentioned quite often in the exam essay. The compilers aim to make teenagers think about this feeling and find examples in the literature.
Many, many writers have addressed the theme of compassion. Can we imagine that Sonechka Marmeladova accused Raskolnikov of murder? She does not blame, she is trying to understand, to warm with a word, kindness, just to be there. She feels sorry for the children (absolutely alien to her!), and she sacrifices herself. She feels sorry for Raskolnikov, and she goes to hard labor for him.
And Dr. Pirogov from the Christmas story "The Wonderful Doctor"? A real story when one person did not pass by the misfortune of another, desperate, already thinking about suicide. Pirogov saved the children from illness and the whole family from starvation, giving them a chance to live. Probably more than the money left under the doctor's saucer, it was his compassion that helped them, which 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 with a kind word.
