You find people ready enough to do the Samaritan, without the oil and twopence.

Sympathy costs nothing, which is why there is so much of it about. Plenty of people will say the right thing, feel genuinely sorry, and be entirely willing to help in principle, and the practical part, the money, the hour, the lift, the awkward phone call, is where the crowd thins out considerably. Feeling for someone and doing something for them are separate acts.

When you next hear yourself offering warmth, add one concrete thing that costs you. Name it and put a time on it, since let me know if you need anything places the work back on the person who is already struggling.