33 Quotes for Kindness: Feel Uplifted and Inspired!

In this article we’re sharing Kindness quotes, and below you’ll find 33 quotes for kindness plus a Fierce Kindness exercise to use the quotes that “speak to you” to learn and grow.

I’ve chosen a broad range of quotes on kindness—from famous people to philosophers and a selection of faith and spiritual leaders of the past and present. Plus a couple of quotes from me, and the awesome Brené Brown!

Jump straight to the kindness quotes here >>

Why Kindness Quotes?

Kindness is a hot topic at the moment. Right now we need kindness on every level—for ourselves, others, and for our planet. And kindness quotes are a wonderful way to feel uplifted, get new ideas on how to be in life as well as how to be kind!

Here are 33 of my Favourite Quotes for Kindness

Which quotes most speak to you?

Being Kind to Yourself

1. Be very very very gentle with yourself. The world is very very very hard on you. Srividya Srinivasan
2. I don’t have time to beat myself up over my fallible nature. Instead I use my energy to learn from my past and let it inform my future. It’s time to own all of our glory, mistakes, mess and light and be gentle to ourselves. Let’s be kind to our spirits and celebrate the truth of our hearts. Grace Gealey
3. Simple kindness to one’s self and all that lives is the most powerful transformational force of all. David R. Hawkins
4. You have to learn to get up from the table when love is no longer being served. Nina Simone
5. As it turns out, we can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly. Brené Brown

Quotes for Kindness—to Others

6. Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. Og Mandino
7. You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. We all have hearts… If you have a heart, love somebody. If you have enough heart, love everybody. Stevie Wonder
9. When someone behaves badly, always be kind. But first choose your kindness level: does this require basic Kindness? Fierce Kindness? Or is Kind Fierceness needed? And remember to be kind to yourself too. Emma-Louise Elsey
10. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. Mother Teresa

Being Kind to the Planet

11. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Albert Einstein

Kindness is a choice

12. Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely. Roy T. Bennett
13. Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. Dalai Lama

Kindness as a Way of Life

14. Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work. William Ward
15. Kindness is a habit and mindset. Once adopted, opportunities to practice it appear out of nowhere, in every moment, of every day, of every year. Vindy Teja
16. Schedule kindness in your day. Watch how small acts of  kindness can change your mood, bring someone else joy, and give both of you a positive benefit. Germany Kent
17. The point is not to pay back kindness, but to pass it on. Julia Alvarez
18. ‘Kindness’ covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out. Roger Ebert

Grow yourself through Kindness

19. Choosing kindness is the ultimate expression of evolved consciousness. Grow by being kind. Amy Leigh Mercree
20. Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom. Theodore Isaac Rubin

Random Acts of Kindness

21. Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales
22. Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty. Anne Herbert

On Fierce Kindness

23. If you want to change the world, make fierce kindness your way of life. Emma-Louise Elsey
24. Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. Dalai Lama XIV
25. Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely and broken. But this is not  our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. Henri Nouwen
26. Sometimes being kind means being tough with ourselves. It may mean saying ‘No’ to ourselves or others. Or it may mean saying ‘Yes’ to difficult decisions and actions. Look within – the answers to what is truly kind to yourself are always to be found in pausing, and making a connection with our deepest selves. Emma-Louise Elsey

The Benefits of Kindness

27. Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.  Mother Teresa
28. Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. Dalai Lama XIV
29. Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away. Arthur Helps
30. It may seem like an obvious statement, but respect, equality and kindness are the simplest ways to create a contagious company culture full of passionate and motivated people. Holly Branson

Quotes for Kindness as a Personal ‘Quality’

31. The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Albert Einstein
32. Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind. Brené Brown
33. Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness. R.J. Palacio, Wonder

Wrap-up

Kindness helps us be more resilient. Because when things get hard, being kind to ourselves helps us feel better. And when we feel better, we cope better.

And when we can be kind to ourselves, no matter what, this is true inner peace. Worth working towards, don’t you think?

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