In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the 20th century Czech novelist Milan Kundera unpacks the etymology of the word “compassion.” Languages that【C1】_____their understanding of compassion from Latin (com-, “with”; passio, “suffering”) tend to【C2】__compassion as synonymous with pity. For Kundera, such a disposition “connotes a certain superiority【C3】__the sufferer. ’To take pity on a woman’ means that we are【C4】__than she, that we【C5】_____to her level, lower ourselves.”

【C6】_____, languages such as Czech, Polish, German, and Swedish form their words for compassion by combining a(n)【C7】__prefix with a word that means “feeling.” Compassion thus becomes a kind of co-feeling that enables one to feel what wretches feel. It is the empathic ability to think one’s way into the minds of others and spend time walking around in their【C8】_____.

In the age of【C9】_____videos and identity politics, when media is prevalent and increasingly【C10】__to generate clicks, this fuller form of compassion seems to be on the【C11】__. We are bombarded daily with images of cruelty,【C12】__, and the indifference of human affairs. Corporations and politicians fuel our desire for【C13】__in an effort to monopolize our attention. Who can resist such alluring【C14】_____and love the sinner while hating the sin, as Gandhi suggests?

Mental health clinicians are【C15】_____each day with stories of meanness, abuse, and neglect. We treat the ravages of trauma and【C16】__the destruction that profound suffering leaves in its wake. And while our clients are often the victims of unspeakable【C17】__, they are also often the authors of the pain and sorrow that they【C18】__. To say this is to acknowledge the【C19】__humanity of the sufferers we meet. It is to be honest about the compassion and lack thereof that【C20】_____side by side in the messiness of human existence.

【C20】