Inspiration Peak: Quotes about Kindness and Giving

"If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give."

George MacDonald
Scottish Author and Poet
Books

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
American Civil Rights Leader
Books Quotes

"All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving
may be yours and not your inheritors."

Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese Poet and Novelist
The Prophet Other Books Quotes

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

"The Wise Woman's Stone"
Author Unknown

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.

D. Elton Trueblood

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

William Wordsworth
English Poet
Books

"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."
.
Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese Poet and Novelist
The Prophet Other Books Quotes

No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.

Aesop
Greek Fable Writer
Aesop's Fables

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.

Edward Everett Hale
American Author, Clergyman

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson
American Civil Rights Leader
Books Quotes

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.

Robert M. Pirsig
Author of Zen and the Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.

We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.'

Hungry not only for bread -- but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing -- but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks -- but homeless because of rejection.

Mother Teresa
Catholic Missionary, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
Books Quotes

“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Poet
Books Quotes

“By the accident of fortune
a man may rule the world for a time,
but by virtue of love and kindness
he may rule the world forever.”

Lao-Tse
Chinese Philosopher
Books

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.

Moliere
French Playwright and Actor
Books

So long as we love we serve;
So long as we are loved by others,
I would almost say that we are indispensable;
And no one is useless while they have a friend.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Scottish Novelist
Books Quotes

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Buddha
The Enlightened One
Books Quotes

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.

Martin Luther
German Theologian
Books

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews 13:2
Other Biblical Quotes

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Poet
Books Quotes

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Dr. Kent M. Keith
American Author and Inspirational Speaker
© Copyright Kent M. Keith, 1968

*Please note that this passage, also known as 'The Paradoxical Commandments' is often attributed to Mother Teresa or to Bishop Abel Muzorewa. We encourage you to visit Dr. Keith's website for more information about its origin.

From what we get, we can make a living;
what we give, however, makes a life.

Arthur Ashe
American Tennis Player, Activist
Books

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.

Seneca
Roman Philosopher
Books Quotes

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness,
and nothing is so gentle as true strength.”

Ralph Sockman

How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.

George Washington Carver
American Educator, Scientist
Books

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own."

Disraeli

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia
Author of Living, Loving and Learning
Other Books Quotes

Better to light one small candle
than to curse the darkness.

Chinese Proverb
Books Other Proverbs

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

Stephen Grellet
Quaker Missionary