[Regarding the Czech word "litost"] Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, remarked that “As for the meaning of this word, I have looked in vain in other languages for an equivalent, though I find it difficult to imagine how anyone can understand the human soul without it.” The closest definition is a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery. Listverse
We want to "understand the human soul". We want this to happen to us. One way we can reach "litost" is by climbing Jacob's Ladder.