"The word EMPATHY is derived from the ancient Greek empatheia, which was formed from the words for in and pathos. A
century ago, German philosophers borrowed empatheia to create the
German word Einfühlung, “feeling into,” which was later translated into
the English word empathy. Interpersonal empathy describes the capacity
that nearly all of us have to include another being into our awareness
in a way that enables us to sense what they might be experiencing
physically, emotionally, and cognitively. Empathy, literally taken, is
feeling into another, while compassion is feeling for another,
accompanied by the aspiration to take action that benefits the other.
Empathy is often a precursor to compassion and part of compassion, but
it is not compassion. Whereas empathy is a good thing in the right dose, I believe that we cannot overdose on compassion."
- Joan Halifax