Quotes about Kindness

Every now and then, I'll meet an escapee, someone who has broken free of self-centeredness and lit out for the territory of compassion. You've met them, too, those people who seem to emit a steady stream of, for want of a better word, love-vibes. As soon as you come within range, you feel embraced, accepted for who you are. For those of us who suspect that you rarely get something for nothing, such geniality can be discomfiting. Yet it feels so good to be around them. They stand there, radiating photons of goodwill, and despite yourself you beam back, and the world, in a twinkling, changes.

I used to think that people who regarded everyone benignly were a mite simple or oblivious or just plain lax—until I tried it myself. Then I realized that they made it only look easy. Even the Berditchever Rebbe, revered as a man who could strike a rock and bring forth a stream, was continually honing his intentions. “Until I remove the thread of hatred from my heart,” he said of his daily meditations, “I am, in my own eyes, as if I did not exist.”

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
by Saint Philo of Alexandria

Despite our differences, we are all in this together. No act of kindness or compassion goes unnoticed. To change the world, take compassionate action within your immediate sphere of influence. To change yourself, start by being still and making time just to listen.

During a retreat on spirituality a woman rose and said: "I have no need of these practices. I feel spiritual all the time without doing anything." Reb Yerachmiel looked at her more than a moment and said: "The next time you have an urge to be spiritual, take a cold shower. Then dry off and do something kind for someone else."

If people need to grow at their own rates, then you might ask, "In what way is it your opportunity to help others grow spiritually?" And I can offer two answers: first, it is appropriate to share your views when someone asks, and second, allow that you may know more of the situation, have greater insight into both the nature of the problem and the solution, than you might share with that person. A true spiritual teacher knows more than he or she necessarily verbalizes, using temperance and love to be guided to say what is appropraite without showing off his or her knowledge or saying what would not arise from the greatest care, kindness, and compassion.

The power of intention manifests as an expression of expanding creativity, kindness, love, and beauty.

Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.

My Brain and My Heart are my Temples. My true Religion is Kindness.

This is my simple religion.  There is no need for temples, no need for complication.  One's own mind, one's own heart is the temple, and loving-kindness is the philosophy.

What is most important is to go deep into ourselves and discover the loving kindness and compassion of the buddha within - the awakened nature we all possess.

You may have seen people praying to an image as if it had special power. Perhaps they're wishing for the well-being of their family, for material prosperity, or to recover from illness. But this way of practicing faith only leads to a dead end. Buddha images should serve as inspirations to cultivate the infinite loving kindness latent in the buddha within us.

Tzu Chang asked Confucius about jen. Confucius said, "If you can practice these five things with all the people, you can be called jen."

Tzu Chang asked what they were.

Confucius said, "Courtesy, generosity, honesty, persistence, and kindness.
If you are courteous, you will not be disrespected;
if you are generous, you will gain everything.
If you are honest, people will rely on you.
If you are persistent you will get results.
If you are kind, you can employ people."

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul. Only kindness can do that.

I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves - the ethical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty.  The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.

I hope to have gathered
To repay your kindness
The willow leaves
Scattered in the garden.

On occasion it is the kind thing to do, to dash someone's hope.  And sometimes it is just plain evil.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

One of the basic points is kindness.  With kindness, with love and compassion, with this feeling that is the essence of brotherhood, sisterhood, one will have inner peace

That best portion of a good man's life,-his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.

Kind words are the music of the world.

Living in the modern age,
death for virtue is the wage.
So it seems in darker hours.
Evil wins, kindness cowers.

Ruled by violence and vice
we all stand upon thin ice.
Are we brave or are we mice,
here upon such thin, thin ice?

Dare we linger, dare we skate?
Dare we laugh or celebrate,
knowing we may strain the ice?
Preserve the ice at any price?

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

My religion is kindness.

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness.

No kind action ever stops with itself.  One kind action leads to another.  Good example is followed.  A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.  The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.

Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.