Prompt: What is the most important quality a person can have?

A question that many ponder is what is the most important quality a person can have. People say that kindness, forgiveness, or honesty are the most important qualities, but these people are incorrect. It is not that kindness, forgiveness, and honesty are insignificant, but that another quality outshines them, yet does not attract the same amount of attention. The ability to have empathy for others is by far the most important trait one can have because it allows one to have tolerance, build connections with others, and provide the knowledge that enables her to help others.

One quality of people who have empathy is that they are tolerant of others. Empathy allows a person to understand how others feel and provides perspective on why he feels that way. Too often, a person becomes angry with others who seem to act unfavorably, when she would have felt differently had she known what was going on in the lives of the others. Empathy allows a tolerance for undesirable behavior: an empathetic person would likely know how the other feels, or take considerable steps to understand his emotions and why he is acting the way he is. Empathy is the most important trait a person can have because knowing what is going on in the life of others leads to tolerance.  Sadly, many people pay little or no attention to the importance of being empathetic, which is an essential part of being a good person.

Another way empathy manifests itself is in the connections that it creates with other people. A person who is empathetic is able to understand the emotions of others around her and thus she has a fair idea of what they want or need emotionally. This understanding of another person's emotions allows the individual to put himself in the role of the other, which in turn allows him to bond with the other. Having meaningful relationships is essential to living a happy life, and that happiness is predicated on being empathetic.

Lastly, people with empathy want to help others. A person with empathy feels the pain of others who are struggling, while a person without empathy would likely not be able to put himself in the other’s shoes. This vicarious sharing of other people’s struggles enables an empathetic person to comfort them and help them out, even though the struggling person may seem fine to an uncaring observer. There are many people who struggle on the inside, but do not give any outward signs that they are hurting. Since an empathetic person can put herself in the position of the other, she oftentimes is the only one who is able to see this internal struggle and take the initiative to help. A person who actively helps others, while some may not be able to recognize the struggles that the other is facing, is another example of how having empathy is the most important trait a person can have.

People seem to become more distant from one another everyday as more people engage in an increasingly competitive world that causes them to focus only on their own success and ignore, or even berate, others. Sadly, basic human decencies such as tolerance, human connection, and understanding have been devalued in our self-seeking culture. This is why empathy is so important in today’s world. It is one of the most powerful ways humans can understand one another, connect with one another, be called to help one another and tolerate one another. There is no doubt that empathy will greatly help society. It is dependent on whether people accept its importance that will help move society in a forward direction.