“The answer to helplessness is not so very complicated. A man can do something for peace without having to jump into politics. Each man has inside him a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a man to listen to his own goodness and act on it. Do we dare to be ourselves? This is the question that counts.”
Pablo Casals, via Sunbeams (Page 114)
Good Deeds Quotes
Tulku Thondup Quote on Karma and How We Create Our Own Karma—It Isn’t Fate
“Karma isn’t fate. Nor is it a punishment imposed on us by some external agent. We create our own karma. Karma is the result of the choices that we make every moment of every day.”
Tulku Thondup
Beyond the Quote (350/365)
Karma is real. Maybe I can’t describe it in a metaphysical sense, but I can certainly describe it from a common sensical, sense. When somebody texts me asking if I want a coffee while they’re at the café—I can promise you it makes me want to text them when I’m at the café next. When somebody brings in food for me, just because—it makes me think about getting food for them on a random, “just because,” day, too. When somebody does a favor for me, it leaves me feeling grateful and in their debt—which makes me want to return a favor. Karma, undoubtedly, returns.
Read More »Tulku Thondup Quote on Karma and How We Create Our Own Karma—It Isn’t Fate101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World
Excerpt: Instead of doing arbitrary random acts of kindness, do deliberate deeds of recalibration when wronged to help “recalibrate” the world.
Read More »101 Acts of Kindness To Help Recalibrate The World
Quote from Modern Love About Recalibrating the Universe When Anything Bad Happens
“Whenever anything bad happens, you should try and recalibrate the universe or whatever you want to call it with its opposite.“
Yasmine, Modern Love
Beyond the Quote (255/365)
Spoilers ahead. In the final episode of Modern Love, Season 1, we are shown a scene of a young man, Rob, who gets stood up at a café. Disheartened and upset, he goes to leave the café and (appropriately enough) walks out into the rain. He slowly pulls back to shield under the café’s awning as an attractive blond women, Yasmine, runs to shield on the other side.
Read More »Quote from Modern Love About Recalibrating the Universe When Anything Bad HappensJonathan Carroll Quote on Kindness in Small Gestures
“I firmly believe in small gestures: pay for their coffee, hold the door for strangers, over tip, smile or try to be kind even when you don’t feel like it, pay compliments, chase the kid’s runaway ball down the sidewalk and throw it back to him, try to be larger than you are— particularly when it’s difficult. People do notice, people appreciate. I appreciate it when it’s done to (for) me. Small gestures can be an effort, or actually go against our grain (“I’m not a big one for paying compliments…”), but the irony is that almost every time you make them, you feel better about yourself. For a moment life suddenly feels lighter, a bit more Gene Kelly dancing in the rain.”
Jonathan Carroll
Beyond the Quote (90/365)
Don’t let ideas of the grandiose stop you from acting in thoughtful, kind ways today. Don’t let your desire to change the whole world (or have a huge impact) stop you from doing anything at all for those who are already in your world. Brainstorming and coming up with master plans is great, but it should never be at the expense of those who surround you throughout your brainstorming process. Never underestimate the power of small gestures done in selfless, loving ways, for those gestures may prove to be the very foundation for so much else in your life.
Read More »Jonathan Carroll Quote on Kindness in Small Gestures
“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 154)
“So often, either consciously or unconsciously, we want something from others, especially when we have done something for them – It’s almost as though we keep score of our own good deeds rather than remembering that giving is its own reward.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff