What do you regard as most humane? To spare someone shame.

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

We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

It’s hard for me to grasp the concept of somebody being nervous when I’m talking to them.

All religions try to benefit people, with the same basic message of the need for love and compassion, for justice and honesty, for contentment.

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.

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

Gravity must be caused by an Agent acting constantly according to certain laws, but whether this Agent be material or immaterial I have left to the consideration of my readers.

My main concern is meeting with public because my main commitment, main interest is promotion of human value, human affection, compassion and religious harmony.

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.

The only way to have a friend is to be one.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?

Gays are some of the nicest, kindest, most loving people in the world.

If you’re nice to me I’ll never write anything bad about you.

I’m very sensitive. I remember, as a kid at school, if someone in the classroom was sad or angry, it could have a great impact on me.

Except for the young or very happy, I can’t say I am sorry for anyone who dies.

Early on, I was so impressed with Charles Dickens. I grew up in the South, in a little village in Arkansas, and the whites in my town were really mean, and rude. Dickens, I could tell, wouldn’t be a man who would curse me out and talk to me rudely.

It’s very inexpensive to give a compliment.

The other day the President said, I know you’ve had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. He paused, then said, would you like a puppy?

The poor don’t know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity.

Some animals are cunning and evil-disposed, as the fox; others, as the dog, are fierce, friendly, and fawning. Some are gentle and easily tamed, as the elephant; some are susceptible of shame, and watchful, as the goose. Some are jealous and fond of ornament, as the peacock.

Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you’re a human being, you feel, you suffer. You’re gay, you’re sick, you’re nervous or whatever.

When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems.

I’m a people pleaser. I hold a lot of things in. I’m always making sure everybody is okay. I usually don’t rage; I usually don’t curse.

The funny thing is that I feel close to all my characters. Deep, deep inside them all.

In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.

We are all alike, on the inside.

You cannot talk about race without talking about privilege. And when people start talking about privilege, they get paralyzed by shame.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

You are 27 or 28 right? It is very tough to live at that age. When nothing is sure. I have sympathy with you.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.

When we believe the best of people, we let go of each thing they do that is hurtful to us. And we choose to think things like, ‚I don’t believe they meant to hurt me.‘ ‚Maybe they’re having a bad day or don’t feel well.‘ ‚They probably don’t even realize how they sound.‘

I was never focused on me, me, me all the time. I was always focused on somebody else.

When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.

The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty.

It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

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

Great teachers emanate out of knowledge, passion and compassion.

I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.

Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God – the rest will be given.

So there’s no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn’t necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn’t necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.

My father always taught me that when you help other people, then God will give you double. And that’s what has really happened to me. When I have helped other people who are in need, God has helped me more.

I was so ashamed of who I was.

When the people become involved in their government, government becomes more accountable, and our society is stronger, more compassionate, and better prepared for the challenges of the future.

Men feel that cruelty to the poor is a kind of cruelty to animals. They never feel that it is an injustice to equals; nay it is treachery to comrades.

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.‘

Bears are very nice, as long as you are nice to them.

Encouragement to others is something everyone can give. Somebody needs what you have to give. It may not be your money; it may be your time. It may be your listening ear. It may be your arms to encourage. It may be your smile to uplift. Who knows?

When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the great feelings – to stop being me for a little while and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue.

Sooner or later we’re all someone’s dog.

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.

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

If someone decides they’re not going to be happy, it’s not your problem. You don’t have to spend your time and energy trying to cheer up someone who has already decided to stay in a bad mood. Believe it or not, you can actually hurt people by playing into their self-pity.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Listen, I think that people want a president who is going to be interested in the things that keep them up at night, the things that are weighing on them, the things that are debilitating and can be addressed.

Everybody likes a compliment.