Our ability to feel sadness, shame, anger, pity, compassion, or elation — vicariously or as direct experience — is the foundation of the empathy that connects us to others. To the extent that family and friends shared our tears during times of crisis, we were able to speak a common language, even if the dialects were sometimes indecipherable. Tears are part of the glue that bind us together.

Jeffrey A. Kottler, The Language of Tears