A tear dries quickly when it is shed for the troubles of others.

Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death of a sparrow in the corner of a barn.

Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; but we have not pity unless we wish to relieve him.

How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied.

Pity is exhaustible. What a terrible discovery!

People in distress never think that you feel enough.

In our world, pity implies a degrading act of condescension, a patronizing good deed performed by someone in a superior position for the sake of someone presumably inferior.

The response man has the greatest difficulty in tolerating is pity, especially when he wants it. Hatred is a tonic, it makes one live, it inspires vengeance, but pity kills, it makes our weakness weaker.

Pity costs nothin' and ain't worth nothin'.

Pity is often a reflection of our own evils in the ills of others. It is a delicate foresight of the troubles into which we may fall.