Thinking about this distinction between shadenfreude and envy, which Joseph Stein discussed in a recent essay in “Town & Country” (April, 2012, pg. 66-67), I realized we needed a third word that contained the same notion of fairness, but one which also expressed a tinge of compassion: “there but for the Grace of God go I.” I like, too, the American Indian admonition that we should never judge a man until we’ve walked a mile in his moccasins.
(courtesy: davidclicke.com)
We need a word for that notion of justice.