compassion

Compassion is for the soul, especially those souls that are conditioned by ego. The ego and personality must not receive pity or compassion!

When your heart flows broad and full like a river, a blessing (to the soul) and a danger (to the ego) to those living near: there is the origin of your virtue (Bodhichitta)." -Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra: On the Gift-giving Virtue

"Myself I sacrifice to my love (The Red Christ, the Rebel Christ, the Superman), and my neighbor as myself"--thus runs the speech of all creators (Bodhisattvas). But all creators are hard. -Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, On the Pitying

So ultimately, there is very little that others would consider compassion which qualifies as such. Does this help explain why the aspirant is resisted by society? True kindness would seem to be sometimes the opposite of perceived kindness (as neitzsche insinuates). Often people want their egos stroked. They want us to 'give them what they want'. And as the book 'how to win friends and influence people' says (which I now see in a different light) "Give people what they want. What people want is themselves. So talk about them, say their name often, ask questions about them." The spiritual path seems to be different than this. If I love my neighbor as myself, do I deny their desires? Actively avoid stroking the ego... E.G. giving complements?

Giving compliments is not necessarily egotistical. Neither is criticism necessarily of the mind. Learning to speak with consciousness and to help humanity does not fall into specific checklists of "to do" and "not to do," for one must learn to speak when necessary, and to be silent when necessary. There must be balance. This is an intuitive process in which we learn to irradiate love, even if it be hard or sweet, even if the ego of another person reacts, or if they feel elevated by our compassion.

Remember that the Law is Mercy (Chesed) and Severity (Geburah), balanced through Splendor (Tiphereth). What Nietzsche was against is false Christian piety (Mercy without the Law, without Justice, which is complacency with crime). He spoke in favor of Geburah, guided by the Spirit, as he mentions countless times throughout that text.

Yes, but is someone who is working against the ego actively resisted (subconsiously) by those in society who are asleep precisely because their ego's are not being fed by the energy of that person?

I guess I'm curious what your personal experiences are, and what you have seen. Does the general public tend to shun the person who is 'on the path' even though there is no outward sign of being an aspirant? I'm speaking specifically of the subconscious motivations of people, not overt shunning. It seems that the deeper one's commitment to the spiritual path, the harder it is to make friends.