Empathy-- Putting oneself into another person's shoes

What does it mean to "put yourself in another person's shoes"? What personal qualities are necessary to be able to see things as someone else does?

What is the difference between pity, sympathy and empathy? To a common person, there is probably not much of a difference, however, if we examine these, we find that there are quite a lot of difference between these three words. They can even be viewed as stage one, stage two, and stage three of truly feeling sorry for a person.

Stage One - Pity: Pity is relief and feeling sorry for a person. You feel sorry that anyone has to suffer such a disastrous fate, but it is superficial, you do not actually understand them and only feel sorry as any humane person would. However, at the same time, you are rather relieved that you are not that person and do not have to endure what he did, that you do not have to experience that tragedy.

Stage Two - Sympathy: When you sympathise for someone, you feel compassion for a person and actually want to help him, instead of just being relieved that you are not him. Instead of just being superficial, you go down one layer and feel like helping that person.

Stage Three - Empathy: Empathy is when you truly understand a person, either because you have had a similar experience or because you are able to put yourself in that person's shoes and "walk around in it". What is meant by putting yourself into a person's shoes is that you view the situation from his point of view instead of from your own point of view. Only by viewing things from a persons point of view are you truly able to understand that person as you will see the problem he faces and the troubles he had to go through, thus, you will be able to understand his decisions and actions. Yet, not everyone can truly put oneself into another person's shoes as certain qualities have to be present in that person. Even some people who put themselves into someone else's shoes still bring about their own point of view and do not truly understand the person, still thinking that that person is wrong. If you want to put yourself into another person's shoes, you have to be patient, so that you do not get irritated and continue thinking that the person should not have done what he did. Other qualities that have to be possessed by the person is having an open mind, as without an open mind, you would not accept whatever the other person's point of view are. Thus, both patience and an open mind are needed to be an understanding person.