Who'd have feelings?

Rehearsals started for the next Inspiration concert on Monday and my mind has been full of song words ever since. It made me realise how hard it is to think your own thoughts when you're trying to memorise someone elses words.
This comes from the '70s though I didn't put it into writing till 1990:

It has recently been brought,

Quite forcibly, to my attention,

And I must confess, I was surprised to learn,

That not everybody makes up poetry as they walk

Do you think, and am I late to catch on to this, that making kids learn stuff in school is a plot to stop them thinking?

For some reason the possible difference between empathy and compassion has been going through my mind. So, as you do, I looked them up on Wiki:
Empathy didn't exist in the UK until 1909 (they had it in Germany in 1873 and we caught it).
I've skipped bits:
'Empathy has many different definitions from caring for other people and having a desire to help them, to experiencing emotions that match another person's emotions, to knowing what the other person is thinking or feeling, to blurring the line between self and other. 
Empathy is distinct from compassion.

Compassion is the wish to see people better off or happier.' And has been around a lot longer.
It's got something to do with being in someone else's shoes - they pinch, even if they fit the other person perfectly they won't fit me.
Mmmm. 
So is either empathy or compassion doing anybody any good?
Has either got anything to do with understanding?
Think of something else.
Learn the words to the Little Shop of Horrors medley.
This one is auditioning for Audrey 2 - supposed to be an Easter cactus.
Ha.

















I love this building.