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#pity — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pity, aggregated by home.social.

  1. A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

    What do we owe our parents? No man can owe love; none can owe obedience. We owe, I think, chiefly pity; for we are the pledge of their dear and joyful union, we have been the solicitude of their days and the anxiety of their nights, we have made them, though by no will of ours, to carry the burthen of our sins, sorrows, and physical infirmities; and too many of us grow up at length to disappoint the purpose of their lives and requite their care and piety with cruel pangs.

    Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
    Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 2.2 “Parent and Child”

    More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #children #disappointment #filialduty #generations #love #parenting #parents #pity

  2. A quotation from Josh Billings

    I believe pitty iz more ov an impulse than a principle, for we seldum respekt thoze that we pitty.
     
    [I believe pity is more of an impulse than a principle, for we seldom respect those that we pity.]

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1874-11 (1874 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/83630/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #disrespect #pity #respect

  3. A quotation from Josh Billings

    I believe pitty iz more ov an impulse than a principle, for we seldum respekt thoze that we pitty.
     
    [I believe pity is more of an impulse than a principle, for we seldom respect those that we pity.]

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1874-11 (1874 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/83630/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #disrespect #pity #respect

  4. A quotation from Josh Billings

    I believe pitty iz more ov an impulse than a principle, for we seldum respekt thoze that we pitty.
     
    [I believe pity is more of an impulse than a principle, for we seldom respect those that we pity.]

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1874-11 (1874 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/83630/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #disrespect #pity #respect

  5. A quotation from Josh Billings

    I believe pitty iz more ov an impulse than a principle, for we seldum respekt thoze that we pitty.
     
    [I believe pity is more of an impulse than a principle, for we seldom respect those that we pity.]

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1874-11 (1874 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/83630/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #disrespect #pity #respect

  6. A quotation from Josh Billings

    Q. — What is pity?
    A. — Cheap charity.

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-12 (1871 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/83154/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #charity #compassion #effort #pity #sacrifice #sympathy

  7. A quotation from the Bible

    Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.
     
    [μιμνῄσκεσθε τῶν δεσμίων ὡς συνδεδεμένοι, τῶν κακουχουμένων ὡς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὄντες ἐν σώματι.]

    The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
    Hebrews 13: 3 [NRSV (2021 ed.)]

    More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-nt/80457/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #newtestament #hebrews #compassion #jail #mistreatment #penalsystem #pity #prison #prisoner #suffering #torture #loveyourneighbor

  8. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification

  9. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification

  10. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification

  11. A quotation from Hannah Arendt

    What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!

    Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
    Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification

  12. A quotation from Hazlitt

    The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.

    William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
    Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7

    More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness

  13. A quotation from Hazlitt

    The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.

    William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
    Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7

    More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness

  14. A quotation from Hazlitt

    The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.

    William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
    Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7

    More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness

  15. A quotation from Hazlitt

    The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.

    William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
    Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7

    More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness

  16. A quotation from Eric Hoffer

    Compassion is probably the only antitoxin of the soul. Where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless. One would rather see the world run by men who set their hearts on toys but are accessible to pity, than by men animated by lofty ideals whose dedication makes them ruthless. In the chemistry of man’s soul, almost all noble attributes — courage, honor, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, etc. — can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.

    Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
    Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 139 (1955)

    More info about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/53745/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #compassion #corruption #nobility #pity #ruthlessness #virtue

  17. A quotation from The Bible

       But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’
       Jesus replied, “A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side.
       “But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said ‘and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.’
       “Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands` hands?”
       “The one who took pity on him” he replied.
       Jesus said to him, “Go, and do the same yourself.”

    The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
    Luke 10: 29-37 [JB (1966)]

    Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/bible-nt/39770/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #newtestament #jesus #parable #compassion #GoodSamaritan #kindness #love #loveyourenemy #loveyourneighbor #mercy #neighbor #pity

  18. So much #hate! This politician probably didn't receive much #love as a kid, from parents or siblings. Probably didn't have many friends who brought #joy. Such a #miserable existence, spreading #anger and #bile. #Pity this #meaningless #empty #unhappy life.

    #UtahPolitics #Utah #pride #opposeGOP

    ksl.com/article/51323631/gop-l

  19. "This is a confession. I love daytime TV. I smoke, even though I officially gave up years ago. I’m often late, and usually lie about why. And sometimes I feel good when others feel bad.

    "The Japanese have a saying: “The misfortunes of others taste like honey.” […] In Hebrew enjoying other people’s catastrophes is 'simcha la‑ed'."

    Excerpts from the #book #Schadenfreude by Tiffany Watt Smith: web.archive.org/web/2019060617 @psychology @bookstodon

    #pity #failures #empathy #envy #emotionality #frustration #discomfort #tonePolicing #languagePolice #conversations #debates #blameTheVictim #grievability #mentalHealth #sadism #bondage #failures #joy #psychology #TiffanyWattSmith #bookStodon #wickedness