Is it possible to have empathy for someone but not love them?

@AbbyHarris1976 Hai Abby <3, This is really a great topic to discuss on. Thank you for posting it.

I would like to invite some of our friends to share their views with us on it.

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@AbbyHarris1976

I agree with you Abby. My mother claims I have no empathy. Well the fact is I do not have empathy for people I despise.

@AbbyHarris1976

Empathy is a pure human act of kindness. I believe its not related to loving and hating the person. I can have empathy to a stranger that I don't know at all. I have empathy to people at war. I have empathy to people with medical conditions. What makes it special is to have empathy to those you care about and and not romantically love. To have empathy to those you despise is a whole way another level of humanity. It doesn't mean I lack it if I don't have empathy to them. It just means that I have crossed the path of forgiveness towards. Empathy I believe is beautiful and very inspiring.

@AbbyHarris1976 That is a tough question! I am with you on this one... I believe you do have to truly love and care for someone to be able to show empathy towards them. Love and empathy go hand in hand and I really liked what you said about people mistaking love for romantic nonsense! It seems to happen a lot and they are very different!

@AbbyHarris1976

From what I understand, empathy is the capacity to understand somebodies emotions at a deeper level, your feelings can come along with the other. However, this does not mean you need to care about or care for everyone emotionally. That would be crazy making. So, if there is someone you find you dont care deeply about, that does not mean you are not empathetic. As long as you are kind about it, it may just mean you just have a good boundary. SO...Yes you can have empathy without loving someone.

@AbbyHarris1976

From what I understand, empathy is the capacity to understand somebodies emotions at a deeper level, your feelings can come along with the other. However, this does not mean you need to care about or care for everyone emotionally. That would be crazy making. So, if there is someone you find you dont care deeply about, that does not mean you are not empathetic. As long as you are kind about it, it may just mean you just have a good boundary. SO...Yes you can have empathy without loving someone.

@AbbyHarris1976 I have to go with you on this one for sure! In order to show empathy we need to have love and care for that person and if we don't, we won't be able to connect emotionally or mentally with them on the level that they need if love isn't present!

@AbbyHarris1976 this is really one amazing thread.

I agree with you as well👍.I feel one can empathise with another only if they love themself. Coz, when we love and like one person, then we are able to validate their emotions and listen to them.

As well as situation like, we listener, we chat with members, it's that in this situation, we don't know the peole initially. But it's that we can empathise them in this case, as we care for them. This somehow is emotional connection I feel 😃. It's goes same in cases like we empathise and help some random people in daily life, may be we don't know them, but we care for them out of respect and as well as liking too.

So I feel, we empathise people, who we love like and care💞. And this makes the other person feel free as well to open up.😃

@AbbyHarris1976 Yes it is possible to feel empathy for someone without loving them.

Wikipedia defines empathy as "the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position" so essentially, putting oneself in someone else's shoes. For instance, doctors or therapists can have empathy towards a patient, but they do not necessarilt love them. I can feel empathy for for many homeless people, for instance, because I have a lot of shared experience, but I don't know them and have never met them, so I don't love them. Empathy is also a learned behavior, and loving someone does not automatically mean that you or the person is able to be empathetic. It takes practise.

Just my thoughts. :-)

I think empathy is the ability to take the time to understand another petsons situation, and to some extent feel how they feel in an attempt to fully know what they are up against. Its a loving thing to do but in a very kind way, and has nothing at all to being in love with that person. You can love people without being in love with a person. Dont let a person take advantage of your empathy in order to manipulate them into love.