Sympathy is common to all human beings.
We feel sympathetic for someone when justice cannot prevail for him.
Even if he has committed a crime, most people still show grief for the consequences a man has to face as he may be deprived of social status and opportunity because of a mistake that seems trivial in appearance.
Yet people are least sympathetic towards human beings also. Most people show sympathy for other animals and plants falling victim to mankind's progress, seeing a distorted ladder leaning against the wrong wall.
People do feel angry when they see droughts, earthquakes, political conflicts, or even massacres rupture humanity, but those are temporary problems that can be solved in a matter of time, whereas environmental problems may continue for decades and most people are truly sympathetic for the rights of countless living things they themselves are destroying.
Sympathy means a lot in our daily life. It motivates us to develop the capacity for helping the weak. But bear in mind that what the weak ones mostly crave is not emotional support, but realistic chances to stand on an equal level with their brothers to strive for a better future.
Confucianism and other Chinese philosophies have adequate principles that can lead people to use sympathy in the best way. Sympathy plays an important role in improving the world.
