Sympathy vs. Empathy

These two words are often wrongly interchanged, when in reality they mean two completely different things, while holding different feelings to them. In simple terms, sympathy is the concept of feeling bad for someone. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have been in that someone's shoes, but you acknowledge that what they are going through is tough. Empathy is being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and relating in a way that requires a whole different thought process than sympathy. You have to be able to put yourself in a certain situation and think "What would I have done?". This is probably the most essential skill when it comes to being a historian, or even a history learner.