Freedom & Empathy

Nelson Mandela said:

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others”

Assuming that Nelson knew a thing or two about freedom, if you are in the process of casting off the chains and becoming free then you have to be very aware of the second part of this quote.

I don’t think that it’s any coincidence that most of the prophets were people that stood back and were very careful with their engagements with other people.

They were simply very aware of the impact of their own behaviour upon others and they accepted this as a responsibility, almost as a price they had paid for the enlightenment that they had achieved.

One of my learnings in life is that empathy is a two-part process; the first being aware of how another person is feeling, and the second is caring about how they feel. Without both, empathy can’t be achieved.

Oddly enough, when I put all these thoughts together I have realised that you can’t live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others if you don’t have empathy. You simply wouldn’t know enough about them, or care enough about them, in the first place.

Which is to say, you can’t be free if you don’t have empathy. But having empathy doesn’t necessarily make you free.