Compassion is a sense of shared suffering, most often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce such suffering; to show special kindness to those who suffer. Thus compassion is essentially empathy, though with a more active slant in that the compassionate person will seek to actually aid those they feel compassionate for.
Compassionate acts are generally considered those which take into account the suffering of others and attempt to alleviate that suffering as if it were one's own. In this sense, the various forms of the Golden Rule are clearly based on the concept of compassion.
Developing Empathy in Children and Youth - A review of psychological studies and educational praxis focusing on that crucial part of moral education, the nurturing of empathy.
Doing the Right Thing (book review) - Highlights the book which asks parents how country can become more normal or if children can be taught morals without using religion.
Meta Description: [ Doing the Right Thing: can we become more moral? Can we teach our children how to be moral without using religion?. ]
Human Kindness Foundation - Non-profit organization which stresses a way of life based upon three common principles taught by the great sages of all religions: Simple living, a dedication to service, and a commitment to personal spiritual practice.
Meta Description: [ Official homepage for the Human Kindness Foundation,
the Prison-Ashram Project, and Bo Lozoff. ]
Tom Udall: Sotomayor Has the Experience, Empathy for the High Court