I always think if you are asking somebody for something it is a good idea to give them something first.

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.

If you treat people right they will treat you right… ninety percent of the time.

Your own soul is nourished when you are kind; it is destroyed when you are cruel.

I believe in the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country as one of love and compassion and kindness.

We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.

Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.

Whenever you’re going through a tough time, generally, you become more compassionate, you become softer, you become more thoughtful, kinder. These are all spiritual qualities that will help you to align yourself with God and God consciousness rather than with a split fear-based consciousness.

In order to have friends, you must first be one.

No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.

I’m doing everything that I can, working with experts, really studying the statistics to figure out a way we can make it cool or normal to be kind and loving.

Not always actions show the man; we find who does a kindness is not therefore kind.

There is a moral obligation that those who have should give to those who don’t.

He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.

The happiest people I know as a nation are the Burmese; their brightness and cheeriness are proverbial. Kindness to animals is one of their greatest ‚weaknesses‘; no Burmese will kill an animal, even if it is to put it out of pain.

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.

Even now I will go to, like, an industry event, and all the ladies will be over here and all the guys over here, and I will go to the guys‘ table and sit because I just feel I can have a much better conversation over there. And that’s automatic; it’s not prejudice.

Christmas is a tonic for our souls. It moves us to think of others rather than of ourselves. It directs our thoughts to giving.

A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.

Why is it you always meet people when you look your worst?

God wants to use you to make other people happy! And the happier you make others, the happier you will be because you reap what you sow.

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.

Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.

Sometimes I’ve been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men, frightened by their wives or sweeties, would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character.

When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I became a lawyer.

God has given us two hands – one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.

The funny thing is people won’t let me pay for things. I’ll be in a restaurant and the manager will say, ‚Oh no, it’s on the house.‘

The good man is the friend of all living things.

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

The blessed of us must save the less of us. I’m blessed, and yeah, I’m planning to go to Heaven.

I have found men to be more kind than I expected, and less just.

The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.

Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it is like good seed sown on a good soil that yields an abundance of fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical yoke of the passions are like seed deposited in a bad soil. The passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth of merits.

Don’t tell your problems to people: eighty percent don’t care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.

Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.

To give alms is nothing unless you give thought also.

Never elated when someone’s oppressed, never dejected when another one’s blessed.

When I walk outside, people have something to say about it.

Indeed, it is as important to learn how to receive a blessing as it is to be willing to give one.

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.

I never like being touched, ever. People used to say I held my breath when they were hugging me. I still do.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

I have a son, who is my heart. A wonderful young man, daring and loving and strong and kind.

It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for awhile their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.

A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient, nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a man in fever. Just so should a wise man treat all mankind, as a physician does his patient, and look upon them only as sick and extravagant.

When I ask people to give, I can’t be on television if they don’t; I can’t help people, if I don’t – I mean, it takes money.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones – with ingratitude.

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

Our focus needs to be less on what our legacy’s going to be or how we can control each other and more how we can give to each other.

The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.

It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so ‚don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.‘

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.

I guess maybe when you get past 70, other people start asking you how you feel.