An appeal to pity (also called argumentum ad misericordiam or the Galileo argument) is a fallacy in which someone tries to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent's feelings of pity or guilt. It is a specific kind of appeal to emotion.
Famous quotes containing the words appeal to, appeal and/or pity:
“The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins. He appeals through the senses, and you cannot appeal to the senses with abstractions.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
“So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us...”
—Bible: New Testament, 2 Corinthians 5:20.
“It’s a pity you didn’t know when you started your game of murder, that I was playing, too.”
—Robb White, and William Castle. Frederick Loren (Vincent Price)