The terms empathy and sympathy are often confused, and with good reason.
empathy和sympathy經常被混淆，而且有著充足的原因。
Both of the words deal with the relationship a person has to the feelings and experiences of another person. So, let’s explore the differences between these terms and how they are most commonly used.
這兩個詞都涉及到一個人對另一個人的感受和體驗的關係。那麼，讓我們來探討一下這兩個詞之間的區別，以及它們最常見的用法。
NO.1
May15.2020
Both sympathy and empathy have roots in the Greek term páthos meaning 「suffering, feeling.」
sympathy和empathy都源於希臘語páthos，意思是 "痛苦，感覺"。
Sympathy is the older of the two terms. It entered English in the mid-1500s with a very broad meaning of 「agreement or harmony in qualities between things or people.」 Since then, the term has come to be used in a more specific way.
sympathy是這兩個詞中較老的一個。它在15世紀中葉進入英語，有一個非常寬泛的含義，即 "事物或人與人之間的一致或和諧的品質。" 從那以後，這個詞的使用方式變得更加具體。
Nowadays, sympathy is largely used to convey commiseration, pity, or feelings of sorrow for someone else who is experiencing misfortune. This sense is often seen in the category of greeting cards labeled 「sympathy」 that specialize in messages of support and sorrow for others in a time of need. You feel bad for them … but you don’t know what it is like to be in their shoes.
現在，sympathy一詞主要用於表達對遭遇不幸的人的同情、憐憫或悲哀。這種意義常常出現在貼有 "sympathy"標籤的賀卡中，專門表達對他人在需要的時候的支持和悲傷的信息。你為他們感到難過，但你不知道站在他們的立場上是什麼感覺。
Consider the following examples:
看一下下面的例子吧：
「I』ve always liked Saturn. But I also have some sympathy for Pluto because I heard it’s been downgraded from a planet, and I think it should remain a planet. Once you』ve given something planetary status it’s kind of mean to take it away.」 – Jared Leto
"我一直都很喜歡土星。但我也有些同情冥王星，因為我聽說它已經從行星降級為行星，我覺得它應該保持行星的身份。一旦你給了一個東西以行星的地位，那就有點吝嗇地把它拿走了。" ——傑瑞德-萊託
「Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.」 – Martin Luther King Jr.
"憐憫或許只代表著不倫不類的關心，而真正的同情是個人的關心，是需要付出靈魂的關心。" ——小馬丁-路德-金
Empathy entered English a few centuries after sympathy—in the late 1800s—with a somewhat technical and now obsolete meaning from the field of psychology. Psychologists began using empathy as a translation for the German term Einfühlung and the concept that a person could project their own feelings onto a viewed object.
empathy是在19世紀末，在sympathy出現之後幾個世紀才進入了英語，這個詞是來自心理學領域的一個有點技術性的、現在已經過時的含義。心理學家們開始使用同理心作為德語術語Einfühlung的翻譯，以及一個人可以將自己的感覺投射到被觀察對象身上的概念。
Unlike sympathy, empathy has come to be used in a broader way than it was when it was first introduced; the term is now most often used to refer to the capacity or ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another, experiencing the emotions, ideas, or opinions of that person.
與sympathy不同，empathy的使用範圍比它剛出現時更廣，現在這個詞最常用來指的是想像自己身處他人的處境，體驗到對方的情緒、想法或意見的能力。
Consider the following examples:
請看下面的例子。
「As you get older you have more respect and empathy for your parents. Now I have a great relationship with both of them.」 – Hugh Jackman
"隨著年齡的增長，你會對父母有更多的尊重和同理心。現在，我和他們兩個人的關係都很好。"——休-傑克曼
「I』ve always thought of acting as more of an exercise in empathy, which is not to be confused with sympathy. You’re trying to get inside a certain emotional reality or motivational reality and try to figure out what that’s about so you can represent it.」 – Edward Norton
"我一直認為表演更多的是一種同理心的練習，而不是和同情心混為一談。你試圖進入某種情感現實或動機現實，並試圖弄清楚那是什麼，這樣你就能表現出它。" ——愛德華-諾頓
To sum it all up …The difference between the most commonly used meanings of these two terms is:
總而言之……這兩個詞最常用的含義的區別是：
sympathy is feeling compassion, sorrow, or pity for the hardships that another person encounters.
sympathy是指對另一個人所遇到的苦難感到同情、悲傷或憐憫。
empathy is putting yourself in the shoes of another, which is why actors often talk about it.
empathy是設身處地地站在他人角度，這也是為什麼演員們常說這個詞。
（原文來源：dictionary.com）
-the end-
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