Empathy

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other person's frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position.

It also is the ability to feel and share another person’s emotions. Some believe that empathy involves the ability to match another’s emotions, while others believe that empathy involves being tenderhearted toward another person. Compassion and sympathy are two terms that many associate with empathy, but all three of these terms are unique. Compassion is an emotion we feel when others are in need, which motivates us to help them. Sympathy is a feeling of care and understanding for someone in need. It can also be understood as having the separateness of defining oneself and another blur.

Tolerance

Tolerance or toleration is the state of tolerating, or putting up with, conditionally, also to suggest a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

Compassion

Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.

Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. Compassion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it, though when based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence, it may be considered rational in nature and its application understood as an activity based on sound judgment. There is also an aspect of compassion which regards a quantitative dimension, such that individual's compassion is often given a property of "depth," "vigour," or "passion." The etymology of "compassion" is Latin, meaning "co-suffering." More involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering.

Dedication to Public Service

Dedication is the quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose, thought or action.

Dedication is an important personality characteristic of an individual. In organizational context, dedicated employees work towards achieving the organizational goals.

Tolerance and Compassion towards the weaker sections

Tolerance can be defined as a fair and objective attitude towards those whose lifestyle differs from yours.

Take a moment to think about your lifestyle: your behaviors, actions, thoughts, and environment. Now think about someone else’s. Chances are there are some aspects of other people’s lives which annoy you. Many people are surrounded by others who appear to be ‘incompetent’ and ‘annoying’. Understanding tolerance can help shift our attitudes toward others, leading us toward a more productive and happy life.

Tolerance refers to the skills we need to live together peacefully. In times of peace, people have a chance to prosper socially, economically and emotionally. Tolerance creates a society in which people can feel valued and respected, and in which there is room for every person, each with their own ideas, thoughts and dreams.

This is why we believe tolerance is important: because it is an essential aspect of a healthy, livable society. In fact, it is the only way in which a country as diverse as India (politically, religiously, economically) can function and use each and every difference to make its people thrive rather than suffer.

In this globalisation, where people of different backgrounds, cultures and religions are living together, and where the world has become multicultural and full of diversity, establishing tolerance and harmony has become very crucial and important, and fostering mutual love and affection has become vital.

Without tolerance and harmony the lasting peace of societies cannot be maintained, and loyalty for each other cannot be established.

Tolerance does not mean that only one person or party shows tolerance and the others do not. When some people disagree on a certain issue they must advocate and express their opinion in a respectful manner, and hateful and provocative words should not be used. Tolerance must be shown from both sides on issues, in order for it to be effective.

What is difference between Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion? Which of these three qualities is most essential for a public servant and why? 

Sympathy  refers  to  acknowledging  another  person’s  emotional   hardships  and  providing  comfort  and  assurance.  Sympathy is the feeling that you care about and are sorry about someone else’s trouble, grief, misfortune, etc.

Empathy  refers  refers  to  understanding  what  others  are  feeling. Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other person’s frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another’s shoes

Compassion refers to a step further, where a person not only  feels  empathy  but  also  a  desire to  help  alleviate  the suffering  of  the  other  person. Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.

Thus,  the  emphasis  here  is  on  action  and  wanting  to  help.  In,  other  word  while  Sympathy  focuses  on  awareness,  empathy  focuses  on  experience  and  Compassion