Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

empathy

When can someone understand human suffering? When he also suffers. When he goes through the same, he learns and understands the other person's suffering. Otherwise, he is callous and is not grieved, unless he happens to have a good nature. But all natural attributes merit neither honor nor dishonor; achievements and falls depend on our own free will. Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast