“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” — Plato “I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.”
— Mother Teresa
“Allahis more lovingandkinderthan amotherto herdearchild.” — The Holy Qur’an “My religion isvery simple. My religionis kindness.” — Dalai Lama “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
— Dalai Lama
“ftindness and love are the most curative herbs and agents in human intercourse”— Friedrich Nietzsche “Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed.”
—Buddha
“It would be true to say that the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our [Buddhist] practice”
—Buddha
“ftindness isa language whichthe deaf canhearandthe blindcansee.” —Mark Twain “Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.”
—Mahavira
“Real kindness seeks no return; what return can the world make to rain clouds?” —Tiruvalluvar
These quotations touch upon various aspects of kindness. Aristotle defines kindness as helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. It is the bedrock of humanist as well as religious ethics. As a virtue, kindness can be analysed in various ways.
What are the elements or ingredients of kindness? What are the sources from which kindness springs? What is the underlying rationale of kindness?
What is its moral significance?
Kindness is one of a cluster of closely related qualities. Love, mercy, benevolence, consideration forothers, altruismand kindnessarealliedqualities. As avirtue,kindness isother-regarding.Those
who perform kind deeds seek no return – a point mentioned in Tiruvalluvar‘s quote above. Dalai Lama regards kindness as the essence of religion. This is virtually true of all religions. Charity or love towards fellow human beings is a core Christian principle. Hinduism emphasises on Daya or Anukampa - virtues very similar to kindness. Similarly, Karuna is a central Buddhist tenet. Islam has a similar concept of Reham or mercy. There is a similar sounding word with similar meaning in Jewish scriptures. Jainism preaches kindness towards all living creatures. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence. Mahavira’s quotation spells out one aspect of kindness in negative terms or as a prohibition–abjuring all forms of violence against living creatures. It sees nonviolence as the chief ingredient of kindness.
From a Christian point of view, all virtues of character directly spring from love, and are its manifestations. As St. Paul says, ‘it is the bond of perfectness’. Kindness arises from human sentiments and feelings; men have a quality of empathy which enables them to experience by a kind of association or psychological simulation theemotions,pleasures and pains of others.Human beings share a sense of fellow feeling with others in virtue of their common humanity. Hence, they feel saddened by the sufferings of others and try to alleviate their pains. They participate in one another’s sorrows and joys, ‘weeping with those that weep, and rejoicing with those that rejoice’. Kindness can be regarded as the outcome of social conscience. Very often, men become hardened and coarse, and lose their delicacy of feeling. Religious texts and genuine literature seek to rekindle and keep alive such feelings in men.
Kindness cannot simply remain as an inactive sentiment. It has to become practical beneficence, of service and of deeds which help those in distress. Kindness is more than mere charity. Charity or generous contributions are necessary to provide for the physical necessities of the destitute and the needy. But the feelings of grief, anxiety and desolation which the sufferers feel can be partly relieved by extending to them emotional solidarity, support, and care. True service costs more than money. “No one can do a kindness who does not put something of himself into it.”
Most religions regard forbearance and forgiveness as a special form of practical kindness. We can note the moral principles which fall within such practical kindness. One should not speak evil of others. One should be gentle and humble. One should live peaceably with all avoiding anything which may lead to strife. Even when there are differences and disputes, one should tolerate and forgive one another.
Plato’s observation on kindness points out the need for other-regarding attitudes. Plato gives a reason why we should be considerate towardsothers. It isthat they may be facingtougher situations or greater adversity than us. But this may not in fact be true. It is an empirical fact which needs verification. However, Plato urges the moral agent to make such an assumption, and adopt an appropriate moral stance towards others. In other words, given that assumption, one has to invariably act kindly towards others. Kindness becomes a permanent attribute of one’s moral being.
Mother Teresa’s observation means that we should be kind and compassionate even at the risk of making mistakes. If we do so, we will never harm or hurt anyone. We may in the process be overindulgent towards some immoral or undeserving persons. But we will not injure them either physically or psychologically.
The expression “work miracles in unkindness and hardness” can be variouslyinterpreted.Thus ambitious parents may put children through harsh educational grind damaging them psychologically
in the process. Legal systems may impose harsh penalties on offenders – without tempering justice with mercy. It may refer to many means through which men try to achieve supposedly great or high ends. In this context, we may refer to the harsh and ruthless totalitarian regimes – as in Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia or Communist China – which aimed at total social transformation. In the process, they killed, maimed, and ruined millions of people. Mother Teresa may be indirectly opposing radical social and political change or large scale experiments in social engineering which are invariably accompanied by great violence and human suffering. She may be highlighting the need for humane, incremental, gradual and peaceful social change.
Mark Twain means that kindness is a feeling which can be conveyed without using any words. People can readily see and sense kind words and deeds. Kindness is a sentiment which passes from one person to another without the need for an intervening medium. No special faculties or skills are needed for conveying or sensing kind sentiments. One need not be learned or tutored to experience kind sentiments or entertain kind thoughts. Even illiterate persons are capable of being kind. Kindness is part of man’s original and natural emotional make up. Harsh circumstances may sometimes destroy this impulse. But with a little effort, they can be revived.
Kindness is an attribute of feelings, thoughts, words and deeds. It is a central moral tenet of all religious thought. In its absence, human beings become beastly, cruel, ruthless and pitiless. The need for kindness, tolerance and harmony can be seen from the violent conflicts which are currently tearing apart many nations of the world. As Goethe observed, “Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together”.