Real compassion is without attachment. Pay attention to this point, which goes against our habitual ways of thinking. It’s not this or that particular case that stirs our pity. We don’t give our compassion to such and such a person by choice. We give it spontaneously, entirely, without hoping for anything in exchange.
– 14th Dalai Lama
from the book “Violence and Compassion: Dialogues on Life Today”