After all, there are multiple celebrations throughout the year that are centered around kindness. According to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, Feb. 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day which falls during Random Acts of Kindness Week (Feb. 13-19). This annual celebration began in 1998 with the World Kindness Movement, a collection of representatives from nearly 30 countries that encourage people to commit small acts of kindness in their own communities. And while it’s amazing to have so many celebrations to acknowledge the importance of being kind, we all have the opportunity to treat others with respect, love and thoughtfulness each and every day. Even doing one tiny act of kindness can change your world and the world around you. In that spirit, here are some of our favorite quotes to inspire kindness, from individuals like Princess Diana, the Dalai Lama, Roald Dahl, Mr. Rogers, and many others known for their generosity. And while being kind to others, remember to also offer the same love to a very important person: YOU!
Best Quotes About Kindness
- “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” —Aesop
- “Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community." —Anthony J. D’Angelo
- “A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” —William Arthur Ward
- “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” —Lao Tzu
- “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.” —Princess Diana
- “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” —Dalai Lama
- “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” —Scott Adams
- “The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” —William Wordsworth
- “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” —Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “No one is born hating another person…People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” —Nelson Mandela
- “I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself, and I’ve found that kindness is the best way.” —Lady Gaga
- “Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.” —George Sand
- “Kindness and politeness are not overrated at all. They’re underused.” —Tommy Lee Jones
- “Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.” —Mr. Rogers
- “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” —Stephen Grellet
- “Kindness is ever the begetter of kindness.” —Sophocles
- “Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, shall win my love.” —Washington Irving
- “If you have an impulse to kindness, act on it.” —Douglas Coupland
- “When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.” —Harold Kushner
- “Many men fail because they do not see the importance of being kind and courteous to the men under them. Kindness to everybody always pays for itself. And, besides, it is a pleasure to be kind.” —Charles M. Schwab
- “The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.” —Charles Kuralt
- “A kindness received should be returned with a freer hand.” —Saint Ambrose
- “Kindness makes a fellow feel good whether it’s being done to him or by him.” —Frank A. Clark
- “Kindness–that simple word. To be kind–it covers everything, to my mind. If you’re kind that’s it.” —Roald Dahl
- “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.” —Mr. Rogers
- “When words are both true and kind, they can change the world.” —Buddha
- “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.” – the Dalai Lama
- ‘There are two ways of spreading light: to be The candle or the mirror that reflects it.” —Edith Wharton
- “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other—not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela
- “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” —Vincent Van Gogh
- “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” —Leo Buscaglia
- “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” —Sir Winston Churchill
- “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
- “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
- “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” —Kahlil Gibran
- “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.” —Audrey Hepburn
- “Those who make compassion an essential part of their lives find the joy of life. Kindness deepens the spirit and produces rewards that cannot be completely explained in words. It is an experience more powerful than words. To become acquainted with kindness one must be prepared to learn new things and feel new feelings. Kindness is more than a philosophy of the mind. It is a philosophy of the spirit.” —Robert J. Furey
- “Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort. —Humphry Davy
- “Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.” —William Makepeace Thackeray
- “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” —Marlene Dietrich
- “I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.” —Pablo Casais
- “Each time I perform an act of kindness, a part of me heals.” —Lupi Ngcayisa
- “Here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.” —Ellen DeGeneres
- “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” —Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- “I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I’ll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.” —Roald Dahl
- “We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” —Whoopi Goldberg
- “You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.” —Publilius Syrus
- “The true greatness of a person, in my view, is evident in the way he or she treats those with whom courtesy and kindness are not required.” —Joseph B. Wirthlin
- “How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straightaway. And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!” —Anne Frank Want more great quotes? Check out… 101 Quotes About Life150 Good Morning Quotes50 Monday Motivation Quotes50 Thinking of You Quotes