“Wax, a substance naturally hard and brittle, can be made soft by the application of a little warmth, so that it will take any shape you please. In the same way, by being polite and friendly, you can make people pliable and obliging, even though they are apt to be crabbed and malevolent. Hence politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.”
Arthur Schopenhauer, via The Daily Laws (Page 129)
“Never postpone a good deed which you can do now, because death does not choose whether you have or haven’t done the things you should have done. Death waits for nobody and nothing. It has neither enemies, nor friends.”
Indian Wisdom, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 84)
“The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.”
Henry David Thoreau, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 67)
“Kindness enriches our life; with kindness mysterious things become clear, difficult things become easy, and dull things become cheerful.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 19)
“Kind people help each other even without noticing that they are doing so, and evil people act against each other on purpose.”
Chinese Proverb, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 16)
“When you’ve done well and another has benefited by it, why like a fool do you look for a third thing on top—credit for the good deed or a favor in return?”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, via The Daily Stoic (Page 212)
“One person, on doing well by others, immediately accounts the expected favor in return. Another is not so quick, but still considers the person a debtor and knows the favor. A third kind of person acts as if no conscious of the deed, rather like a vine producing a cluster of grapes without making further demands, like a horse after its race, or a dog after its walk, or a bee after making its honey. Such a person, having done a good deed, won’t go shouting from rooftops but simply moves on to the next deed just like the vine produces another bunch of grapes in the right season.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, via The Daily Stoic (Page 210)
“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)
“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)