Emotion
‹ 9 · Outline · 11 ›
10.Pity, compassion and sympathy
10a.Pity as natural and prior to reflection
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 22–23Telemachus weeps in wrath and pity falls on the people.read · scan
- p. 146–147Odysseus weeps and feels compassion at seeing Elpenor's shade.read · scan
- p. 195Eumaeus is moved by the stranger's sufferings and grieves for his lost master.read · scan
- p. 325Odysseus weeps at his father's wasted state and grief.read · scan
Aeschylus, Prometheus BoundVol. 8
- p. 171–175The Chorus is wounded by pity at his woes.read · scan
- p. 178–179Prometheus is wearied with grief and pity for Atlas.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 99–100Job pleads for pity from friends who persecute him.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 182Mourning for enemies once sick, contrasted with their rejoicing in his adversity.read · scan
Sophocles, Oedipus the KingVol. 8
- p. 209Oedipus's pity for his suppliant people; city wails in grief.read · scan
The Bhagavad-Gita; or, Song CelestialVol. 45
- p. 787Arjuna's body trembles, his limbs fail and he is melted with pity and horror at the sight.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 91Suppliants plead for pity and compassion, mourning their losses.read · scan
- p. 93Dido pities Aeneas because she too has been an exile in distress.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 371Jesus has compassion on the weeping widow; fear seizes the crowd.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 350–353The killing of the dolphin is called a moving, affecting catastrophe calling for tenderness.read · scan
- p. 353Homer's Ulysses weeps with pity over his dying dog Argus.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 13Dante weeps and is horrified at the cries of woe.read · scan
- p. 16–17Pity, not fear, pales Virgil's cheek; sighs of grief; Dante feels sore grief for the worthy souls.read · scan
- p. 21Dante's pity and grief at the lovers' fate move him to tears and near collapse.read · scan
- p. 21Dante faints from compassion; Francesca says remembering joy in misery is the greatest grief.read · scan
- p. 25Dante's pity for the shades overcomes him with grief.read · scan
- p. 67Dante feels grief rather than scorn at their doom; fear of the fire outweighs his wish to embrace them.read · scan
- p. 119Dante is moved to pity and weeping by the maimed shades, and by kinship with Geri, whose violent death remains unavenged.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 194–195Dante is moved to pity and sorrow at the sight of the blind, leaning souls.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 12The Prioress is all conscience and tender heart, weeping over a trapped mouse or a dead lapdog.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 134Percivale weeps in pity on recognizing his aunt, and grieves at his mother's death.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 196Pity and humanity lead one to mitigate others' grief and restore them to joy.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 9Paré's heart aches with pity at the wounded and he repents coming to see such a spectacle.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 97–98Vivaldo and company came from curiosity and pity, grieved by the tale of despairing love.read · scan
- p. 178Old man's lamentations and Sancho's compassion, giving alms.read · scan
- p. 356Her sighs and throbs move the lackeys to compassion and Dorothea to offer help.read · scan
Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of PoesyVol. 27
- p. 25–26The elegiac moves pity, lamenting the weakness of mankind.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 265–266Lear's wits begin to turn, yet he feels pity for the Fool.read · scan
- p. 274Kent pities Lear's madness; Edgar's tears threaten his disguise.read · scan
- p. 300Lear wakes believing Cordelia a blessed spirit and himself on a wheel of fire; pity and grief at his suffering.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 399Miranda's compassion for the shipwrecked souls: their cry knocked against her heart and she suffered with them.read · scan
- p. 399Miranda weeps with pity at the tale of her own exile.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 7Rosaura feels pity and fellow-suffering for his wretchedness, comparing it with her own sorrows.read · scan
- p. 7Segismund's hunger for human voice and face and dread of losing them; Rosaura's pity for him.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 311Pity and passion move giving more than reason; compassion makes another's misery our own.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 252Compassion of a mother for her child contrasted with Zion's sense of abandonment.read · scan
John Dryden, Dedication of the AeneisVol. 13
- p. 21–22Aeneas shows grief, natural compassion and tenderness toward the dead and his son.read · scan
- p. 25–27Aeneas's tears arise from compassion and tenderness, over friends, Palinurus and Pallas, and are laudable.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 187Pity, an innate abhorrence of seeing others suffer, moderates self-love and precedes reflection.read · scan
- p. 189Natural pity precedes reflection; even the dissolute weep at theatrical suffering.read · scan
- p. 189–190Pity moderates self-love and rescues those in distress without reflection, preserving the species.read · scan
- p. 204Natural compassion withholds primitive man from injuring others; revenge makes men sanguinary.read · scan
- p. 212Natural compassion faded, surviving only in great souls who love all humanity.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 231–232Compassion born of the priest's own misfortunes.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 240Compassion for widows, fatherless and captive minds moves his heart; he is shut up from cheerfulness.read · scan
- p. 269He is taught patience and a lively feeling for the afflictions of fellow-creatures.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 40Delight in calamity mixed with uneasiness makes us pursue and relieve suffering, by instinct prior to reasoning.read · scan
- p. 42We feel pity for others even while suffering ourselves, often most when softened by affliction.read · scan
- p. 125Pity is a passion founded on love, aroused by young, domestic, amiable virtues.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 200–201Natural sympathies of the human breast are perverted.read · scan
- p. 212Burke's heart is moved at the contrast of her elevation and her fall.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 248–250Pity for animals, even predators, and for the poor moves the speaker.read · scan
- p. 250–252Relief of a brother in distress is called an exquisite bliss.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 651–652Poet's eyes fill with tears and earnest blessing for the girl.read · scan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 710–711Fear and pity at meeting the strange damsel in the wood.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 59–60The sight of death changes his feelings into sorrow, consternation and painful compassion.read · scan
- p. 283–284The silent beggars' outstretched hands move Renzo to pity; their suffering needs no words.read · scan
- p. 367–368Federigo is breathless with eagerness and compassion; the chaplain is rapt with wonder at the Unnamed's altered face and tears.read · scan
- p. 423–424The misfortunes of others now make a new impression on Abbondio, whose fear had diverted his mind.read · scan
- p. 600–601Lucia is overwhelmed with horror and compassion at Renzo's account of the plague cabin.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 216–217The girls act from pity and horror when the eagle seizes the dwarf.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, CharacteristicsVol. 25
- p. 348Solemn pity and admiration felt for Schlegel; the spectacle of the lost child provokes tears.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 299–300The Daisy's pity and powerless wish to comfort the suffering bird; the Lark's despair.read · scan
- p. 300–301Grief, remorse and unrewarded sympathy: the boys weep only when the bird is dead, while the Daisy feels most.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1336Calm of the hour falls on her spirit; the sick gaze at her like a ray of sun to a prison.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 211Jemmy's sympathy for the seasick Darwin, York's passion and strong affections.read · scan
- p. 502Painful memories of hearing moans of a tortured slave, and horror at atrocities.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 148Woman is to extend her sympathy to distant suffering and imagine her response to real calamity.read · scan
- p. 159Sympathy and agony contrasted with the sheltered woman's untroubled happy smile.read · scan
Walt Whitman, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1409–1410Deep in his breast a burning flame of pity beneath a steady hand.read · scan
Matthew Arnold, The Study of PoetryVol. 28
- p. 71–72Quoted lines show pity and grief: Achilles to Priam, Ugolino's stony sorrow, Beatrice's compassion.read · scan
Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32
- p. 147–148Sympathy and pity are deepest Celtic feelings, extending even to Judas.read · scan
10b.The pleasure we take in others' distress
See also: Pleasure and Pain 7a · Poetry 6a
Euripides, The BacchaeVol. 8
- p. 417–419Chorus's fierce joy at Pentheus' death contrasted with the leader's pity that it is unfair to rejoice at suffering.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 31–32Why we enjoy grieving at tragedies; compassion for feigned passions, sorrow as pleasure, true mercy.read · scan
- p. 32–33Compassion may allow some sorrow but none loved; God pities without being wounded by sorrow.read · scan
Henry Fielding, Preface to Joseph AndrewsVol. 39
- p. 180–181Compassion for misfortune turns to mirth only when affectation appears; poverty and distress provoke pity, not laughter.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 40We take delight in others' real distress; pity arises from love and social affection and terror delights at a distance.read · scan
- p. 42Our delight in distress does not come from immunity from danger; we crowd to see ruins we would not wish caused.read · scan
10c.Pity that softens resolve and enemies
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 303–304Leiodes clasps Odysseus' knees begging pity and fear scatters the wooers.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 46–48Cassandra's wild lament; chorus feels pity in place of anger.read · scan
Sophocles, Oedipus the KingVol. 8
- p. 251Creon shows pity rather than scorn for the fallen king.read · scan
Euripides, The BacchaeVol. 8
- p. 427–430Cadmus' grief and pity for his daughter's affliction.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 100Sinon's feigned misery kindles Trojan pity.read · scan
- p. 412Aeneas's compassion melts, then rage at sight of Pallas's belt overcomes it.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 179Marcius is overcome by passion and feeling at seeing his family.read · scan
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 348Octavia's lamentations and fear of misery move Caesar.read · scan
The Destruction of Dá Derga's HostelVol. 49
- p. 212–213Donn Desa's sons grieve for Conaire's plight; Ingcel is pitiless, feeling no sadness.read · scan
- p. 231–232Fer rogain weeps till his tears are blood over the child's fate.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 17–18The father mourns for a year and is moved to pity by the fawning calf.read · scan
- p. 18–19The sheykh sympathizes with the weeping calf and spares it.read · scan
- p. 198The father's anger turns to tears and compassion at the son's plea for forgiveness.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 115–117Cellini's passion inflames his eyes; the Pope passes from hottest anger to warmest compassion.read · scan
- p. 237–238Cellini weeps with sweetness and gladness; the castellan's savage rage turns to pity and remorse.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 328Tears and compassion stir her breast.read · scan
Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of PoesyVol. 27
- p. 27–28A tragedy drew tears from a pitiless murderer, showing the power of pity.read · scan
William Shakespeare, Songs and SonnetsVol. 40
- p. 280–281Pity received from a friend is enough to cure the poet's shame.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 450–452Prospero, moved by their sufferings, lets nobler reason rule over his fury and feels kindly compassion.read · scan
- p. 453–454Prospero weeps in sympathy with Gonzalo and chooses forgiveness over vengeance.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 397The old woman's fear takes away her speech; Herbert's compassion relieves it.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 155Satan, watching, feels wonder, grief and pity and could love them, though pretending to seek amity.read · scan
- p. 304Anger yields to pity as Eve weeps at his feet.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 236–237Pity and sympathy replace envy and hatred of the fortunate.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 208Pity for the persecuted queen and humiliated king.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 364–365Pity, born of love, dispels Tellheim's chagrin and rage and reopens his heart to tenderness.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 327–328Ferdinand, convulsed with anguish and pity, breaks down before Egmont; Egmont is amazed at unexpected consolation.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 447–449Pity smothers Duncan's wrath and softens Meg.read · scan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 712–713Pity and comforting of a wretched maid; false relief 'free from fear.'read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 329–330Lucia's anguish, and the Unnamed's unusual anxiety and recoiling regret over his authority over her.read · scan
- p. 335–336Compassion in Nibbio and stirrings of pity unsettle the Unnamed.read · scan
- p. 336–337Lucia's trembling terror and despairing indignation before her captor, who softens on seeing her grief.read · scan
- p. 337–338Lucia's pleading for pity stirs hesitation and unwonted gentleness in her oppressor.read · scan
- p. 338Pity moves the Unnamed to seek a remedy for a humble villager's sorrow, and he wonders at himself.read · scan
- p. 343The Unnamed is tormented by compassion, terror and consternation at Lucia's tears, unable to steel himself against pity.read · scan
- p. 349The bravoes are astonished at their master's changed countenance and the old woman thinks Lucia a princess, as he softens toward her.read · scan
- p. 568–569Her grief moves even the hardened monatto to respect, and Renzo to pity.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 155–156The Queen is horror-struck and weeps; the manikin pities her and grants three days.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 337–341Camillo's grief for his dead nephew and pity for Beatrice break his stern composure.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 384Nicias's mind holds only mock passions, mock joy, fear, love and pride, so he provokes ridicule rather than pity.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 391–392Victors feel pity and sympathy rather than exultation toward the captured, proud Confederate officers.read · scan
10d.Sympathy and the contagion of emotion
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 50Talk of lost Odysseus moves all to weep, Helen, Telemachus, Menelaus, and Peisistratus remembering his brother.read · scan
- p. 140The men weep and lament on recognizing Odysseus, and even the goddess is moved to compassion.read · scan
- p. 154–155Odysseus weeps with compassion at the sight of Agamemnon's grieving shade.read · scan
- p. 262–263Penelope weeps for her husband while Odysseus, moved to pity, hides his tears with a steadfast face.read · scan
Aeschylus, Prometheus BoundVol. 8
- p. 171The Chorus is filled with fear, pity and tears at Prometheus's plight; he fears every sound.read · scan
- p. 176Sympathy and pity are shown by the Chorus and Okeanos.read · scan
- p. 191–192Chorus is chilled with terror and pity at Io's tale.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 87Aeneas weeps and sighs at the monuments of Trojan woes; he finds sympathy in foreign lands.read · scan
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 355Antony weeps with grief seeing the wounded, who answer with joyful loyalty.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 248No joining others in their wailing, no violent emotion.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 123–124Joy shared among many grows more exuberant as they kindle one another.read · scan
Hymns of the Christian Church: Latin HymnsVol. 45
- p. 552–554Mary's grief at the cross; petitioner asks to share her sorrow and compassion.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 63–64Grief drives the portress to swoon again, and the guests are troubled by the scene.read · scan
- p. 111Grief, fear and compassion are stirred.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 70The bombardier weeps and tears his cheeks, seeing his house sacked and family outraged, unable to fire.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 195He ends his discourse with such feeling laments that the listening goatherds are moved to compassion.read · scan
- p. 300–301The daughter weeps from compassion at knights' lamentations, while her father is inflamed by tales of blows.read · scan
- p. 361Dorothea's sobs move all present to tears; Fernando yields, and Cardenio and Lucinda reunite in astonished joy.read · scan
- p. 364All weep for joy or sympathy; even Sancho weeps, with comic self-interested excuse.read · scan
- p. 373Hearers, especially the tenderhearted women, weep at the Moor's vehement insistence on her Christian name Maria.read · scan
- p. 413The father's bitter weeping and Zoraida's tender lamentation move all in the barque to compassion and tears.read · scan
- p. 428–429Compassion and tears spread through the company; the curate bids the judge suppress his tears.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 138Hecuba's grief at Priam's mutilation would move the gods to passion.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 274–275Edgar says suffering is lighter when shared: the sight of the King's woe eases his own pain.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 345–346Donne's sermon on affliction, with sighs and tears, moves hearers to shared sadness while his home offers only sorrow.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 319Adam weeps in compassion and dismay at the sight of death and suffering.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 246Fear grips the women's hearts in the dark valley; Christiana feels sympathetic dread for her husband's ordeal.read · scan
- p. 259–260Mercy and Matthew recognize their own fears in Mr Fearing and take comfort from them.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 29Ventidius weeps, Antony catches the contagion of friends' tears; grief, shame and anger mingle.read · scan
Colley Cibber, The Blind BoyVol. 40
- p. 441–442Others sigh with pity for his woe, but he does not mourn what he never knew.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 327–328Passions of joy or sorrow gain force when the friend's idea is enlivened.read · scan
- p. 382The pleasure of telling news, like marriage gossip, spreads reports; the same passions spread religious miracles.read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32
- p. 310Sympathetic delight in others' joy is amiable but merely inclination, on a level with other inclinations.read · scan
Edmund Burke, On Taste: Introductory DiscourseVol. 24
- p. 21Passions like love, grief, fear, anger and joy affect all minds by natural sympathy on uniform principles.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 39Sympathy substitutes us for another so we are moved as he is; the social passions are sympathy, imitation, ambition.read · scan
- p. 137We sympathize with others' passions; words convey them fully and affect us more than the things themselves.read · scan
- p. 137–139Passions spread by sympathy and contagion; words describe a thing as it is felt.read · scan
William Cowper, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 537–539Sadness and distress shared between the couple.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 288–289Egmont is infected by Orange's anxiety; Regent galled.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 606–608Solitary dreaming happiness is pitied as blind; suffering and mourning are borne with hope.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 63–64The crowd is moved to compassion and respect by his sincerity.read · scan
- p. 295Gertrude's confidences and Lucia's shifting suspicion into compassion show sympathy.read · scan
- p. 331–332The Unnamed tells the old woman to draw on her own sorrow and fear to find words of comfort.read · scan
- p. 402The men outwardly show none of their tumultuous thoughts, though fear and sympathy stir within them.read · scan
- p. 413–414Lucia is stunned by welcomes, distracted from painful recollections by villagers' sympathy and offers of help.read · scan
- p. 594The crowd responds with sighs, sobs and tears.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 825–827Solitary longing for shared feeling before the sea: 'did any heart now share in my emotion.'read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 424Werter's sceptical sentimentality, love, friendship and despair spread like an epidemic across Europe.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 298–299Daisy's joy, the tulips' envy and the Daisy's sympathetic sorrow are dramatized.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1330Pity, compassion and weeping bind the two sorrowing women; hope sustains the pursuit.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 303–306Common danger and suffering tame the captain's spirit into humane fellow-feeling.read · scan
Robert Louis Stevenson, Truth of IntercourseVol. 28
- p. 283–284We are all misunderstood, wagging our tails like neglected lap-dogs for a sympathetic eye.read · scan
10e.Condemnation of excessive pity
Plato, The Apology of SocratesVol. 2
- p. 22Appeals to pity by tears and moving spectacle are rejected as unworthy.read · scan
Plutarch, DemosthenesVol. 12
- p. 208–209Consolation for family affliction may be sought in the country's prosperity; Plutarch distrusts Aeschines' language that melts readers into unmanly tenderness.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 81Dante weeps in pity at the distorted human form; Virgil rebukes pity for those judged by God.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 142The jester dislikes the beggars' lamentable tears and callously dismisses them.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 151–152Pity for the unfortunate is compatible with lust; one can show kindness without giving.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 94Indulged pity softens children's spirits and increases their complaining.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 337–338The innkeeper declines to stir for the sorrows of fugitives, though he approves charity; curiosity draws the crowd.read · scan
- p. 406–407The father dislikes weeping and outcries, which he says a little sense would settle.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 334–335Nibbio confesses compassion for Lucia, which he likens to fear and says unmans one.read · scan
- p. 460Even humane people are overpowered by calamity, losing the power of commiseration.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 76–77Regret and foolish sympathy are called base; joy is the secret of fortune.read · scan
‹ 9 · Outline · 11 ›