Compassion is understanding another's emotions and suffering, and desiring to alleviate it. It often leads one to feel empathy and act kindly towards those experiencing pain through aiding them. Compassionate acts specifically aim to account for and reduce the suffering of others, differing from general kindness through its focus on relieving suffering.

1. Compassion Compassion is best described as an understanding of the emotional state of another. Compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another; to show special kindness to those who suffer. Compassion may lead one to feel empathy with another person. Compassion is often characterized through actions, wherein a person acting with compassion will seek to aid those they feel compassionate for.

2. Compassion Compassionate acts are generally considered those which take into account the suffering of others and attempt to alleviate that suffering. In this sense, the various forms of the Golden Rule are in part based on the concept of compassion, if also on the concept of empathy. Compassion differs from other forms of helpful or humane behavior in that its focus is primarily on the alleviation of suffering.

3. Compassion Acts of kindness which seek primarily to confer benefit rather than relieve existing suffering are better classified as acts of altruism, although, in this sense, compassion itself can be seen as a subset of altruism , it being defined as the type of behavior which seeks to benefit others by reducing their suffering.