"I'm not sure whether I should be giving you sympathy or not."
She gave them neither, but instead offered sympathy and common sense advice.
And give me instant sympathy, maybe a little empathy too.
"Yes, perhaps so, though I don't think she'd give me much sympathy."
But it wasn't easy to get him to give sympathy.
Give a man sympathy at the wrong moment, and you never regained the ground lost.
We gave him what sympathy we could, which was very little.
You can give me help and sympathy, support, understanding.
"It was just hurtful to be around my family because they kept giving me sympathy."
They are well aware that nobody gives them much sympathy, not at these salaries.