Compassion – The Mother of All Virtues 279What virtues a man will choose is left entirely to him. Whether they
be the general virtues that apply equally to womanhood and manhood,
as for example humility, modesty and compassion or the particular vir-
tues of either sex, such as grace, or else courage, heroism and skills,
among others.
Liken this to all human beings given a noble stringed instrument and
it is left to the player which notes to strike, so our innermost being is
able in each case to send out special vibrations, which works in a
strengthening and stimulating, invigorating and happy-making way, and
gradually, according to the prototype of the heavenly virtues, allows the
same human prototype to arise on earth.
Let us pause here and contemplate how far reaching is the concep-
tion of a virtue and how manifold are its effect in our lives can be shown
with a few examples—simplicity and clarity in our deepest being and
thoughts will surely lead to the virtue of humility, which is linked with
serving but has nothing to do with servility.
Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates
a desire to help. Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to
help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. Compas-
sion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it, though when
based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence,
it may be considered rational in nature and its application understood as
an activity based on sound judgment. There is also an aspect of compas-
sion which regards a quantitative dimension, such that individual's com-
passion is often given a property of “depth”, “vigour” or “passion.”
The etymological meaning of compassion in Latin is “co-suffering.”
More involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly gives rise
to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering and to share it.