Noble sentiments. But does everyone feel compassion in the same degree
and in the same circumstances? I remember being in Korea in the late 1980s
in a movie theatre seeing the film Gandhi. There is a scene where the
protesters line up and move towards two guards who wield staves that they
use to beat the people. As the first line of people are struck down, the
second steps up to be struck, in a show of non-violent protest. For me, it
was a powerful moment, but for the Korean audience, they burst into
laughter. One man’s compassion is another’s entertainment.
I will concede to Schopenhauer that compassion may indeed be an inherent
and uncontrollable human trait