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If you wish me to weep, you yourself must feel grief.

— Horace · Ars Poetica

A teal teardrop suspended above a glass bowl of water on a dark ledge.
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Behind the line May contain spoilers.

Our reading

An editorial interpretation.

The speaker makes shared feeling a condition of moving another person. Wanting someone else to weep is not enough; the person trying to move them must first feel grief. The sentence links emotional expression with an inward experience rather than a desired outward response.

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