“Tact, like compassion, is a derivative of empathy. To be able to empathize with another presupposes a capacity for identification. It involves for the self to be able to feel what the other feels so as to find a way to alleviate their state of distress. Although tact, like compassion, is based on nearness, its purpose is, ultimately, to generate distance.

Being tactful means: to respect and to protect the intimacy of the other and in this way to preserve their dignity.”