**Sympathy = same feeling. Empathy = understand feeling.** Sympathy is a stronger version of empathy. But sympathy can also have BS called on it. If someone's mom and dad just filed for divorce and your parents have been together your whole life, you can't really **sympathize**, but you might be able to **empathize**. > [!tldr] 👉 If you feel the same, that's sympathy. Otherwise it's empathy. **** # More ## Source [What's the difference between 'sympathy' and 'empathy'?](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/sympathy-empathy-difference) ## Related - [[Negotiation is Tactical Empathy]]