quotations about kindness
Kindness is a graceful deed done without the other person's having to request it.
SHELDON B. STEPHENSON
Meditations on the Holy Spirit of God
I have known the depths to which mortals are capable of descending, and I have seen the heights. I have seen how kindness and compassion may grow in the unlikeliest of places, as the mountain flower forces its way through the stern rock.
JACQUELINE CAREY
Kushiel's Dart
They are always saying God loves us. If that's love I'd rather have a bit of kindness.
GRAHAM GREENE
The Captain and the Enemy
Be a little kinder than you have to.
E. LOCKHART
We Were Liars
Kindness is universal in its objects. We have known individuals who could never do enough for some objects of their regard, but who are by no means persons of diffusive kindness; and, perhaps, if we examine, we shall find that their benevolence has a great mixture of selfishness in it, for it is exercised only towards those from whom they expect an ample return. It is the kindness of barter, not of charity: it is so much of their comfort put out at interest, not given away to the needy; they either have had, or expect to have, value received for all they do.
JOHN ANGELL JAMES
The Friend, Nov. 27, 1830
Kindness is very indigestible. It disagrees with proud stomachs.
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
Extracts from the Writings of W. M. Thackeray
Kindness has converted more sinners than either zeal, eloquence or learning.
FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words
Little deeds of kindness, little words of love,
Help to make earth happy, like the heaven above.
JULIA CARNEY
Little Things
Kindness holds the key to the secret of our own transformation and, in the process, of the transformation of the world.
JEAN MAALOUF
The Healing Power of Kindness
Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
attributed, Treasury of Thought
There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.
MARY ANNE RADMACHER
Live Boldly
Warm hearts are better than great thoughts.
LYMAN ABBOTT
Laicus: Or, The Experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish
Kindness is too often left uncultivated, because men do not sufficiently understand its value. Men may be charitable and not kind; merciful, yet not kind; self-denying and yet not kind. If they would add a little common kindness to their uncommon graces, they would convert ten where they now only abate the prejudice of one.
FREDERICK W. FABER
attributed, The Flight of the Swallow
Kindness is not something you need to struggle to formulate. You need only let down what defenses might be in place and see what wells up from inside you.
WILL GLENNON
Practice Random Acts of Kindness
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Emile
When one person shows kindness to another person, God shows up.
STEVE SJOGREN
The Day I Died
If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins them.
FRANCIS BACON
Essays
Kindness in ourselves is the honey that blunts the sting of unkindness in another.
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
Imaginary Conversations
To be kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Nobel Lecture, Jun. 16, 2012
I'm glad I'm funny. I'm glad I make people happy, because that's very important. But I'm proud to be known as a kind person. You listen to any monologue on late-night TV or just in general, to people talking, and there's always a joke at someone's expense. It's sarcasm; it's nasty. Kids grow up hearing that, and they think that's what humor is, and they think it's OK. But that negativity permeates the entire planet. I think that's where bullying comes from. I mean, I grew up watching Dick Van Dyke and Lucille Ball, and they were nothing but sweet and funny. It wasn't "negative comment, negative comment, laugh track." So I'm really proud I'm not adding to the negativity. I'm proud that for the hour my show is on television, I'm not being mean, and I'm hopefully helping one other person go, I'm going to be kind. Because then it all just kind of spreads, and the world is a little nicer out there.
ELLEN DEGENERES
Good Housekeeping, Oct. 2011