A simple but often underappreciated way to live a happier life is through kindness.
So in this post I’d like to share the most powerful and best kindness quotes I’ve found in the past 10+ years. Thoughts from the past 2500 years about kindness and care for others but also towards yourself.
But first, why is kindness so powerful?
Well, here’s three of my favorite reasons that I keep in mind and that helps me to try to be a kinder person:
1. I get what I give.
Most people will over time tend to treat you as you treat them.
There will of course always be exceptions but don’t let those few people stop you from focusing on building new or deeper relationships with the help of kindness.
2. If I’m kinder towards others then I tend to be kinder towards myself.
Treating others with kindness will not only make you feel good and help you to improve your self-esteem.
I’ve also found that the way I treat others – no matter if that’s in a positive or negative way – has a big effect on how I think about and treat myself too.
3. Kindness keeps on rippling outward.
Me being kind towards someone makes them a bit happier and may turn their afternoon or day around. And so they extend a kind word or action to someone in their life. And that person may continue and pay the kindness forward.
That’s my three most important reasons. Now, on to the timeless wisdom.
And if you want even more self-loving inspiration then check out this post with quotes on knowing your true worth and value and this one about focusing on yourself.
Inspirational Kindness Quotes
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.”
Seneca
“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Kindness – that simple word. To be kind – it covers everything, to my mind. If you’re kind that’s it.”
Roald Dahl
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
Lao Tzu
“Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.”
Jackie Chan
“When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”
Abraham Joshua Heschel
“Don’t just show kindness in passing or to be courteous. Show it in depth, show it with passion, and expect nothing in return. Kindness is not just about being nice; it’s about recognizing another human being who deserves care and respect.”
Colin Powell
“As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency.”
Caroline Kennedy
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Mark Twain
“Kindness is not a business. True kindness expects nothing in return and should never act with conditions.”
Roy T. Bennett
“Treat others as you wish to be treated. Don’t just be nice, but be kind to other people. That can be so rewarding.”
Mary Lambert
“Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness.”
Dale Carnegie
“What we all have in common is an appreciation of kindness and compassion; all the religions have this. Love. We all lean towards love.”
Richard Gere
“Simple kindness may be the most vital key to the riddle of how human beings can live with each other in peace, and care properly for this planet we all share.”
Bo Lozoff
“Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life.”
Confucius
“Kindness can transform someone’s dark moment with a blaze of light. You’ll never know how much your caring matters. Make a difference for another today.”
Amy Leigh Mercree
“Kind hearts are the gardens. Kind thoughts are the roots. Kind words are the blossoms. Kind deeds are the fruits.”
Kirpal Singh
“A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.”
Washington Irving
“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
“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”
Arthur Ashe
“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”
Audrey Hepburn
“The ideas that have lighted my way have been kindness, beauty and truth.”
Albert Einstein
“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.”
Maya Angelou
“Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations.”
Paramahansa Yogananda
“A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.”
Thomas Carlyle
“Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.”
Charles Glassman
“True beauty is born through our actions and aspirations and in the kindness we offer to others.”
Alek Wek
“The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”
Charles Kuralt
“How would your life be different if… You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.”
Steve Maraboli
“Kindness extended, received, or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved.”
Wayne Dyer
“Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes.”
Joseph B. Wirthlin
“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
“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”
David Mitchell
“We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.”
Charlie Chaplin
“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
“When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they’ll remember and be kind to someone else. And it’ll become like a wildfire.”
Whoopi Goldberg
“When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world.”
Harold Kushner
“My religious philosophy is kindness. Try to be kind. That’s something worth achieving.”
Pierce Brosnan
“Be kind to people on the way up – you’ll meet them again on your way down.”
Jimmy Durante
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”
Dalai Lama
“Because that’s what kindness is. It’s not doing something for someone else because they can’t, but because you can.”
Andrew Iskander
“Transparency, honesty, kindness, good stewardship, even humor, work in businesses at all times.”
John Gerzema
“You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love.”
Cheryl Strayed
“Real love means loving kindness and compassion, the kind of love that does not have any conditions.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.”
Dennis Prager
“Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.”
R.J. Palacio
“The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness.”
Maya Angelou
“Kindness implies the recognition of being of the same nature as others, being of a kind, in kinship.”
Penelope Campling
“Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone. Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own.”
Adam Lindsay Gordon
“Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.”
Conan O’Brien
“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 are constituted so that simple acts of kindness, such as giving to charity or expressing gratitude, have a positive effect on our long-term moods. The key to the happy life, it seems, is the good life: a life with sustained relationships, challenging work, and connections to community.”
Paul Bloom
“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
Also check out this post filled with you are enough quotes and plus this post about better days ahead.
Don’t Take My Kindness for Weakness Quotes
“Don’t ever mistake my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance or my kindness for weakness. Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.”
Dalai Lama
“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”
Albert Schweitzer
“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Kindness and politeness are not overrated at all. They’re underused.”
Tommy Lee Jones
“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”
Theodore Rubin
“You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.”
Publilius Syrus
“People shouldn’t have to earn kindness. They should have to earn cruelty.”
Maggie Stiefvater
“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
J. R. R. Tolkien
“You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can’t put a dollar sign on.”
Dolly Parton
“When you show people kindness and respect, despite petty differences, you are bringing positive vibes into your life and into the lives of others.”
Jason Scotts
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
Dalai Lama
“An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.”
Kahlil Gibran
“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
“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.”
Joseph Joubert
“Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don’t like them.”
Stacy London
“Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.”
Samuel Johnson
“Be kind, don’t judge, and have respect for others. If we can all do this, the world would be a better place.”
Jasmine Guinness
“It takes strength to be kind; it’s not a weakness.”
Daniel Lubetzky
Short Kindness Quotes and Sayings
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
Aesop
“Kindness gives birth to kindness.”
Sophocles
“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.”
William Arthur Ward
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
Dalai Lama
“A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.”
Dave Barry
“And you can always, always, give kindness.”
Anne Frank
“When words are both true and kind, they can change the world.”
Buddha
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
Francis of Assisi
“Be kind to unkind people. They need it the most.”
Ashleigh Brilliant
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.”
Booker T. Washington
“Warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”
C.G. Jung
“Kindness is the ability and desire to have a positive impact on others.”
RAKtivist
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
Plato
“I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.”
Pablo Casals
“Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.”
William Makepeace Thackeray
“Life is short but there is always time for courtesy.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Caring people are surely the best kind of people to spend your life with.”
Unknown
“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.”
Jesse Jackson
“Extend yourself in kindness to other human beings wherever you can.”
Oprah Winfrey
“In the end, only kindness matters.”
Jewel
“Beauty lives with kindness.”
William Shakespeare
“Kindness is always fashionable.”
Amelia E. Barr
“Act with kindness, but do not expect gratitude.”
Confucius
“Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Treat everyone with respect and kindness. Period. No exceptions.”
Kiana Tom
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
Anne Frank
“Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.”
Robert G. Ingersoll
“All I’m saying is, kindness doesn’t have any boundaries.”
Kathryn Stockett
“Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.”
J.M. Barrie
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“If you choose to be any kind of person, choose to be a kind person first.”
Unknown
“One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”
John F. Kennedy
“Kindness is love made visible.”
H. Swanepoel
“How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it!”
George Elliston
“The simple act of caring is heroic.”
Edward Albert
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.”
Charles Bukowski
“When words are both true and kind, they can change the world.”
Buddha
“Forget injuries; never forget kindness.”
Confucius
“Never be so busy as not to think of others.”
Mother Teresa
“Take time to be kind and to say ‘thank you.’”
Zig Ziglar
Random Acts of Kindness Quotes
“Kindness makes a fellow feel good whether it’s being done to him or by him.”
Frank A. Clark
“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“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
“Let us practice random kindness and acts of senseless beauty to all we meet.”
Paul Keller
“The love, kindnesses, and value we have given authentically to others will be our remaining treasures at the end of life.”
Steve Brunkhorst
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.”
Mother Teresa
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.”
Bob Kerrey
“The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”
William Wordsworth
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Always have a willing hand to help someone, you might be the only one that does.”
Roy T. Bennett
“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.”
Morgan Freeman
“The good thing, no, the wonderful thing, is that you can choose to be kind and do a small act of kindness any time you want.”
Unknown
“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.”
Mary Oliver
“Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.”
Blaise Pascal
“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
“Be nice to strangers. Be nice even when it doesn’t matter.”
Sam Altman
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Desmond Tutu
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
Dalai Lama
“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.”
Eric Hoffer
“But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.”
Rick Riordan
“We can all fight against loneliness by engaging in random acts of kindness.”
Gail Honeyman
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
Mother Teresa
“If you have kindness in your heart, you offer acts of kindness to touch the hearts of others wherever you go—whether they are random or planned. Kindness becomes a way of life.”
Roy T. Bennett
“Ask yourself, have you been kind today? Make kindness your modus operandi and change your world.”
Annie Lennox
“Perform a random act of kindness for someone: a smile, compliment, or a favor just for fun. These will multiply and spread very quickly.”
Steven Brunkhorst
“No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.”
Amelia Earhart
Uplifting Self-Kindness Quotes
“Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.”
Pema Chödrön
“Give yourself some kindness today until you’re filled and pass it on.”
Lori Hil
“Stop. Take 3 deep breaths and smile everywhere in your body, observing what’s happening in your body. Proceed now with kindness and understanding.”
Deepak Chopra
“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”
Brené Brown
“I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself, and I’ve found that kindness is the best way.”
Lady Gaga
“You can cultivate mercy when you extend acts of compassion and kindness to yourself and to other people.”
Bree Miller
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.”
Brené Brown
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
Lucille Ball
“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”
Jean Shinoda Bolen
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
Maya Angelou
“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”
Mark Twain
“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
Louise L. Hay
“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”
Lao-Tzu
“I found in my research that the biggest reason people aren’t more self-compassionate is that they are afraid they’ll become self-indulgent. They believe self-criticism is what keeps them in line. Most people have gotten it wrong because our culture says being hard on yourself is the way to be.”
Kristen Neff
“Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness.”
Deborah Day
“Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.”
Christopher Germer
“Self-love is an ocean and your heart is a vessel. Make it full, and any excess will spill over into the lives of the people you hold dear. But you must come first.”
Beau Taplin
“A healthy self-love means we have no compulsion to justify to ourselves or others why we take vacations, why we sleep late, why we buy new shoes, why we spoil ourselves from time to time. We feel comfortable doing things which add quality and beauty to life.”
Andrew Matthews
“There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.”
Brian Andreas
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
Buddha
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”
Malcolm S. Forbes
“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different.”
Stacey Charter
“Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
Eleanor Brownn
“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.”
Roy T. Bennett
“I had to grow to love my body. I did not have a good self-image at first. Finally it occurred to me, I’m either going to love me or hate me. And I chose to love myself. Then everything kind of sprung from there. Things that I thought weren’t attractive became sexy. Confidence makes you sexy.”
Queen Latifah
“If you feel “burnout” setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself.”
Dalai Lama
“You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.”
Diane Von Furstenberg
“When we work from a place, I believe, that says ‘I’m enough,’ then we stop screaming and start listening, we’re kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves.”
Brené Brown
“Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity.”
Katrina Mayer
You may also find these two posts helpful: 71 Self Care Quotes to Help You to Take Care of Yourself and 101 Inspiring Self Esteem and Self Love Quotes.
Kindness Quotes to Help You Say Thank You
“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
“Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love, which linger and continue to uplift others long after your sharing.”
Rumi
“The words of kindness are more healing to a drooping heart than balm or honey.”
Sarah Fielding
“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”’
Saint Basil
“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
Steve Maraboli
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
Scott Adams
“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.”
Barbara De Angelis
Want even more inspirational quotes and tips to help you live a kinder life? Check out this post with my own top tips on how to spread kindness in your world, this one about improving your self-esteem and this post with my favorite tips for living a life of self-kindness.