“Being pleasant and having a good attitude is a simple way to become luckier. Opportunities come through people, and people are more likely to bring opportunities to people they like. It’s hard to win if your attitude adds friction to every interpersonal experience.”
James Clear, Blog
“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”
Theodore Isaac Rubin, via Sunbeams (Page 127)
“Our lives are also fed by kind words and gracious behavior. We are nourished by expressions like ‘excuse me,’ and other such simple courtesies. Our spirits are also richly fed on compliments and praise, nourished by consideration as well as whole wheat bread. Rudeness, the absence of the sacrament of consideration, is but another mark that our time-is-money society is lacking in spirituality, if not also in its enjoyment of life.”
Ed Hays, via Sunbeams (Page 119)
“It’s hard to make good news sexy. It is. I think about this a lot as a journalist. But maybe it’s like kindness. Kindness is the stuff of moments, but it can be absolutely transformative in moments. Beautiful lives are transformative in moments. But we have to train ourselves to look for them.”
Sylvia Boorstein, via Becoming Wise (Page 222)
“We now know that doing good to others, having a network of strong and supportive relationships, and having a sense that one’s life is worthwhile are the three greatest determinants of happiness.”
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, via Becoming Wise (Page 192)
“Most rudeness, meanness, and cruelty are a mask for deep-seated weakness. Kindness in these situations is only possible for people of great strength.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 146)
“Kindness is invincible but only when it’s sincere, with no hypocrisy or faking. For what can even the most malicious person do if you keep showing kindness and, if given the chance, you gently point out where they went wrong—right as they are trying to harm you?”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, via The Daily Stoic (Page 146)