The Dalai Lama says, “My religion is very simple: my religion is kindness.” Let’s not even get into the history of other religions in the world, because they are all so littered with war, cruelty, intolerance and hatred that we can barely see the landscape of the original messages of love and kindness that the religions’ founders espoused.
One of my favorite personal affirmations, that I began using a few years ago is, “My middle name is kindness.” I began saying that to myself because of my long history of codependent relationships in which I was kind to everyone but me. Maybe you have that issue in your own life—you do acts of kindness (random or otherwise) and yet you overlook being nice to yourself and treating yourself with dignity and respect.
Let’s all begin spreading more kindness in the world. When we are kind to ourselves and others, we allow room for mistakes, for forgiveness, for tolerance of our differences and compassion for one another’s troubles.
Here are a few quotations you might enjoy on the topic of “kindness”:
- “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” Albert Schweitzer
- “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Perform a random act of kindness for someone: a smile, compliment, or a favor just for fun. These will multiply and spread very rapidly.” Steve Brunkhorst
- “Always be a little kinder than necessary.” James M. Barrie
- “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” Henry James
- “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” Plato
- “He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” Benjamin Franklin
- “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Mark Twain
- “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.” Kahlil Gibran
- “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao Tzu