Our Centers for Ethics:

Quotations: Caring, generosity, forgiveness

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I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again. 
— Stephen Grellet, French/American religious leader (1773-1855)

Men are only great as they are kind.
— Elbert Hubbard, American entrepreneur and philosopher (founder of Roycroft) (1856-1915)

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher (1712-1778)

A kind word is like a spring day. 
— Russian proverb

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
— Aesop, Greek fabulist (fl. 6th century B.C., possibly legendary)

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.  
— Henri F. Amiel, Swiss writer (1821-1881)

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.
— Lucy Larcom, American poet (1826-1893)

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
— Edith Wharton, American novelist (1862-1937)

Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.
— Frank A. Clark

The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our dead, and every sweet unselfish act is now a perfumed flower.
— Robert G. Ingersoll, American lawyer, politician and public speaker (1833-1899)

The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.
— Charles Lamb, English essayist (1775-1834)

The most important thing in any relationship is not what you get but what you give.... In any case, the giving of love is an education in itself.
— Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady and social activist 
(1884-1962)

A man there was, tho' some did count him mad, 
The more he cast away, the more he had.
— John Bunyan, English writer and Puritan minister (1628-1688)

It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.
— Leo Buscaglia, author and university professor (1924-1998)

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. 
— Albert Pike, Scottish Rite Freemason (1809-1891)

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers. 
— Seneca, Roman statesman, dramatist and Stoic philosopher (4 B.C.?-65 A.D.)

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. 
— Mohandas Gandhi, Indian nonviolent civil rights leader (1869-1948)

If one man dies, it is a tragedy; if a thousand men die, it is a statistic. 
— Unknown

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. 
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, philosopher and poet (1803-1882)

One must care about a world one will never see. 
— Bertrand Russell, British mathematician and philosopher (1872-1970)

It is the characteristic of the magnanimous man to ask no favor but to be ready to do kindness to others. 
— Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322 B.C.)

Unshared joy is an unlighted candle. 
— Spanish proverb

The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm. 
— Swedish proverb

You must be fit to give before you can be fit to receive.
— James Stephens, Irish novelist and poet (1882-1950)

You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who cannot repay you. 
— Ruth Smeltzer

Compassion is the basis of morality.'' 
— Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788-1860)

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.
— Albert Schweitzer, French Nobel Peace Prize-winning mission doctor and theologian (1875-1965)

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