{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness", "heading": "Quotes about kindness", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness.md", "quotes_count": 285, "authors_count": 168, "parent": null, "children": [ { "name": "helping others", "slug": "helping-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others", "heading": "Quotes about helping others" }, { "name": "generosity", "slug": "generosity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/generosity", "heading": "Quotes about generosity" }, { "name": "altruism", "slug": "altruism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism", "heading": "Quotes about altruism" } ], "quotes": [ { "id": "cc4ad66a-fe73-449a-a482-8cc4c2f5aa2c", "slug": "nothing-alone-a-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/the-outsider/nothing-alone-a-man", "text": "\"Nothing.... Alone a man is nothing.....I wish I had some way to give the meaning of my life to others.... To make a bridge from man to man.... We must find some way of being good to ourselves.... Man is all we've got.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "The Outsider", "slug": "the-outsider", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/the-outsider" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#The_Outsider_(1953)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:05" }, { "id": "2dd724b0-7a4f-435c-a40c-804395b8ce00", "slug": "kindness-effects-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/fables/kindness-effects-more", "text": "Kindness effects more than severity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean de La Fontaine", "slug": "jean-de-la-fontaine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine" }, "book": { "title": "Fables", "slug": "fables", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/fables" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_de_La_Fontaine#Book_VI-", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:10:00" }, { "id": "48176458-c130-4cf7-9554-5ca4a58a4eed", "slug": "and-here-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid/and-here-are", "text": "And here are troops of men\n\nwho had suffered wounds, fighting to save their country,\n\nand those who had been pure priests while still alive,\n\nand the faithful poets whose songs were fit for Phoebus;\n\nthose who enriched our lives with the newfound arts they forged\n\nand those we remember well for the good they did mankind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Aeneid", "slug": "the-aeneid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "fame", "slug": "fame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aeneid#Book_VI", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:58" }, { "id": "de3a4bc9-04a3-4a49-94bd-57d42fa2d892", "slug": "may-the-gods", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid/may-the-gods", "text": "May the gods—\n\nAnd surely there are powers that care for goodness,\n\nSurely somewhere justice counts—may they\n\nAnd your own consciousness of acting well\n\nReward you as they should.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virgil", "slug": "virgil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil" }, "book": { "title": "The Aeneid", "slug": "the-aeneid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virgil/the-aeneid" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "conscience", "slug": "conscience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aeneid#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:56" }, { "id": "19a691b4-267e-47d1-bf14-83b287323d07", "slug": "a-good-mayor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/a-good-mayor", "text": "A good mayor is a good thing. Are you afraid of the good you can do?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Victor Hugo", "slug": "victor-hugo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo" }, "book": { "title": "Les Misérables", "slug": "les-miserables", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 137, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Book_V_-_The_Descent", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:48" }, { "id": "6db32a17-0c0e-4471-975e-3649ab66f593", "slug": "when-good-folk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian/the-water-margin/when-good-folk", "text": "When good folk meet, evil men keep their distance.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Shī Nàiān", "slug": "shi-naian", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian" }, "book": { "title": "The Water Margin", "slug": "the-water-margin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian/the-water-margin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Water_Margin#Quotations", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:57" }, { "id": "cecc6442-7777-4acc-8186-397017460b79", "slug": "song-jiang-helped", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian/the-water-margin/song-jiang-helped", "text": "[Song Jiang] helped anyone, high or low, who sought his aid. [...] He was always making things easy for people, solving their difficulties, settling differences, saving lives. He provided the indigent with funds for coffins and medicines, gave charity to the poor, assisted in emergencies, helped in cases of hardship. And so he was famed throughout the provinces of Shandong and Hebei, and was known to all as the Timely Rain, for like the rain from the heavens he brought succor to every living thing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Shī Nàiān", "slug": "shi-naian", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian" }, "book": { "title": "The Water Margin", "slug": "the-water-margin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian/the-water-margin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "helping others", "slug": "helping-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Water_Margin#Quotations", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:55" }, { "id": "01fceb8b-20a4-4187-8b98-90a3be6304b0", "slug": "one-evening-at-dinner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/suetonius/the-twelve-caesars/one-evening-at-dinner", "text": "One evening at dinner, realizing that he had done nobody any favour throughout the entire day, he spoke these memorable words: \"My friends, I have wasted a day.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Suetonius", "slug": "suetonius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/suetonius" }, "book": { "title": "The Twelve Caesars", "slug": "the-twelve-caesars", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/suetonius/the-twelve-caesars" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "time", "slug": "time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Suetonius#Titus", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:49" }, { "id": "bb83e7ff-eac9-4710-8a4c-6e5ce5ac4217", "slug": "i-was-astonished", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos/les-liaisons-dangereuses/i-was-astonished", "text": "I was astonished at the pleasure to be derived from doing good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Pierre Choderlos de Laclos", "slug": "pierre-choderlos-de-laclos", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos" }, "book": { "title": "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", "slug": "les-liaisons-dangereuses", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos/les-liaisons-dangereuses" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Choderlos_de_Laclos#Les_liaisons_dangereuses_(1782)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:43" }, { "id": "4e310a68-d467-4acd-9675-ddec082bfb9f", "slug": "i-take-goodness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-essays/i-take-goodness", "text": "I take goodness in this sense, the affecting of the weal of men, which is that the Grecians call philanthropia; and the word humanity (as it is used) is a little too light to express it. Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of nature, the inclination. This of all virtues, and dignities of the mind, is the greatest; being the character of the Deity: and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing; no better than a kind of vermin.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Francis Bacon", "slug": "francis-bacon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon" }, "book": { "title": "The Essays", "slug": "the-essays", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-essays" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Essays_(Francis_Bacon)#Of_Goodness_and_Goodness_of_Nature", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:19" }, { "id": "d39a7e41-3ab4-4e9a-989d-0ad159e05f8c", "slug": "kindness-and-consideration", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white/if-you-ask-me/kindness-and-consideration", "text": "“Kindness and consideration of somebody besides yourself keeps you feeling young.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Betty White", "slug": "betty-white", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white" }, "book": { "title": "If You Ask Me", "slug": "if-you-ask-me", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white/if-you-ask-me" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "youth", "slug": "youth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Betty_White#If_You_Ask_Me_(And_of_Course_You_Won%E2%80%99t)_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:18" }, { "id": "57ac8e66-889d-4bba-9c87-dfa651b1d398", "slug": "why-i-cant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-elizabeth-braddon/lady-audleys-secret/why-i-cant", "text": "\"Why, I can't help smiling at people, and speaking prettily to them. I know I'm no better than the rest of the world; but I can't help it if I'm pleasanter. It's constitutional.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Elizabeth Braddon", "slug": "mary-elizabeth-braddon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-elizabeth-braddon" }, "book": { "title": "Lady Audley's Secret", "slug": "lady-audleys-secret", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-elizabeth-braddon/lady-audleys-secret" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Elizabeth_Braddon#Lady_Audley's_Secret_(1862)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:01" }, { "id": "bade1f6b-6ed6-4c7e-b458-4d5a44a9443e", "slug": "the-very-basis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susanna-rowson/charlotte-temple/the-very-basis", "text": "The very basis of true peace of mind is a benevolent wish to see all the world as happy as one's Self; and from my soul do I pity the selfish churl, who, remembering the little bickerings of anger, envy, and fifty other disagreeables to which frail mortality is subject, would wish to revenge the affront which pride whispers him he has received.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susanna Rowson", "slug": "susanna-rowson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susanna-rowson" }, "book": { "title": "Charlotte Temple", "slug": "charlotte-temple", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susanna-rowson/charlotte-temple" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "peace of mind", "slug": "peace-of-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace-of-mind" }, { "name": "revenge", "slug": "revenge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/revenge" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susanna_Rowson#Charlotte_Temple_(ed._1814)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:46" }, { "id": "1b0a791b-deec-4590-8501-785d0e4ea16b", "slug": "the-heart-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susanna-rowson/charlotte-temple/the-heart-that", "text": "... the heart that is truly virtuous is ever inclined to pity and forgive the errors of its fellow creatures.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susanna Rowson", "slug": "susanna-rowson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susanna-rowson" }, "book": { "title": "Charlotte Temple", "slug": "charlotte-temple", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susanna-rowson/charlotte-temple" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "forgiveness", "slug": "forgiveness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/forgiveness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susanna_Rowson#Charlotte_Temple_(ed._1814)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:46" }, { "id": "a74ea59a-31f1-4c69-926d-fb6346a70297", "slug": "t-o-be-able", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/a-little-princess/t-o-be-able", "text": "[T]o be able to learn things quickly isn't everything. To be kind is worth a great deal to other people.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frances Hodgson Burnett", "slug": "frances-hodgson-burnett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett" }, "book": { "title": "A Little Princess", "slug": "a-little-princess", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/a-little-princess" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Little_Princess#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:40" }, { "id": "999958c1-af4e-4ce4-8dd1-24abf02aca4d", "slug": "the-beggar-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/a-little-princess/the-beggar-girl", "text": "The beggar girl was still huddled up in the corner of the step. She looked frightful in her wet and dirty rags. She was staring straight before her with a stupid look of suffering, and Sara saw her suddenly draw the back of her roughened black hand across her eyes to rub away the tears which seemed to have surprised her by forcing their way from under her lids. She was muttering to herself.Sara opened the paper bag and took out one of the hot buns, which had already warmed her own cold hands a little.\"See,\" she said, putting the bun in the ragged lap, \"this is nice and hot. Eat it, and you will not feel so hungry.\"The child started and stared up at her, as if such sudden, amazing good luck almost frightened her; then she snatched up the bun and began to cram it into her mouth with great wolfish bites.\"Oh, my! Oh, my!\" Sara heard her say hoarsely, in wild delight. \"Oh, my!\"Sara took out three more buns and put them down.The sound in the hoarse, ravenous voice was awful.\"She is hungrier than I am,\" she said to herself. \"She's starving.\" But her hand trembled when she put down the fourth bun. \"I'm not starving,\" she said—and she put down the fifth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frances Hodgson Burnett", "slug": "frances-hodgson-burnett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett" }, "book": { "title": "A Little Princess", "slug": "a-little-princess", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/a-little-princess" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Little_Princess#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:40" }, { "id": "2af2b17e-efd2-425b-ac1e-160c1cc1cfb1", "slug": "i-want-to-tell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice/i-want-to-tell", "text": "I want to tell her that God is not a cement building of stones and sand. That God is not for all that putting inside a house and locking Him there. I want her to know that the only way to know if a person find God and keep Him in their heart is to check how the person is treating other people, if he treats people like Jesus says--with love, patience, kindness, and forgiveness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abi Dare", "slug": "abi-dare", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare" }, "book": { "title": "The Girl with the Louding Voice", "slug": "the-girl-with-the-louding-voice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "faith", "slug": "faith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abi_Dar%C3%A9#The_Girl_with_the_Louding_Voice_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:21" }, { "id": "13420f50-30a5-4132-8848-96a193542698", "slug": "you-must-do-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice/you-must-do-good", "text": "You must do good for other peoples, even if you are not well, even if the whole world around you is not well.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abi Dare", "slug": "abi-dare", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare" }, "book": { "title": "The Girl with the Louding Voice", "slug": "the-girl-with-the-louding-voice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abi_Dar%C3%A9#The_Girl_with_the_Louding_Voice_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:21" }, { "id": "f0fcb9d1-c715-4acb-ba06-0e83435c4fb7", "slug": "why-is-it-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ruth-behar/lucky-broken-girl/why-is-it-that", "text": "“Why is it that bad things have to happen so you learn there are lots of good people in the world?\" (Ruthie)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ruth Behar", "slug": "ruth-behar", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ruth-behar" }, "book": { "title": "Lucky Broken Girl", "slug": "lucky-broken-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ruth-behar/lucky-broken-girl" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ruth_Behar#Lucky_Broken_Girl_(2017)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:11" }, { "id": "3d939365-f8c8-46e8-88e1-17f139fdc20d", "slug": "the-soul-grows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kate-douglas-wiggin/rebecca-of-sunnybrook-farm/the-soul-grows", "text": "The soul grows into lovely habits as easily as into ugly ones, and the moment a life begins to blossom into beautiful words and deeds, that moment a new standard of conduct is established, and your eager neighbors look to you for a continuous manifestation of the good cheer, the sympathy, the ready wit, the comradeship, or the inspiration, you once showed yourself capable of. Bear figs for a season or two, and the world outside the orchard is very unwilling you should bear thistles.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kate Douglas Wiggin", "slug": "kate-douglas-wiggin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kate-douglas-wiggin" }, "book": { "title": "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", "slug": "rebecca-of-sunnybrook-farm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kate-douglas-wiggin/rebecca-of-sunnybrook-farm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "soul", "slug": "soul", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/soul" }, { "name": "habits", "slug": "habits", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/habits" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Douglas_Wiggin#Rebecca_of_Sunnybrook_Farm_(1903)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:08" }, { "id": "584467e0-549c-4e35-bdac-699b3610568c", "slug": "it-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-brokaw/the-greatest-generation/it-is-not", "text": "It is not surprising, I suppose, that the horrors of war give birth to a new generation of good Samaritans. Young men and women who have been so intensely exposed to such inhumanity often make a silent pledge that if they ever escape this dark world of death and injuries, this universe of cruelty, they will devote their lives to good works. Sometimes the pledge is a conscious thought. Sometimes it is a subconscious reaction to their experiences.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tom Brokaw", "slug": "tom-brokaw", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-brokaw" }, "book": { "title": "The Greatest Generation", "slug": "the-greatest-generation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-brokaw/the-greatest-generation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Brokaw#The_Greatest_Generation_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:01" }, { "id": "dc6f9987-8cd8-4f9d-b274-8fb81b13f673", "slug": "i-reflected-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matt-hughes/hespira/i-reflected-that", "text": "I reflected that the genial glow that surrounds the doer of a good deed loses some of its warmth and brightness when the recipient meets every action with the pinched face of suspicion.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Matt Hughes", "slug": "matt-hughes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matt-hughes" }, "book": { "title": "Hespira", "slug": "hespira", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matt-hughes/hespira" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 48, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "suspicion", "slug": "suspicion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suspicion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Hughes_(writer)#Hespira_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:54" }, { "id": "9c953be0-6c67-4585-9d8d-c06c7503deb2", "slug": "i-am-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/a-peculiar-treasure/i-am-not", "text": "I am not so naïve as to be oblivious of evil and ugliness, but I thought that the bulk of the human race wanted, deep down, to be good if only they could, somehow. A childish belief, perhaps. But I shrink from relinquishing it. I am not astonished at brutality, nor at the weak yielding to it. I know that man belongs to the animal kingdom. But I know, too, that he is superior to other animals through the possession of that intangible something called the spirit. Just as I believe that God is Good and that Good is God, so I believe that Good (and therefore God) lives within each of us. Each one of us is not only an animal, but a spirit. And for that reason alone (though there are a thousand others) I marvel that every decent human being does not reject the spiritual murder which accompanies the scourge of Fascism, Nazism and Communism. Of the three, the Nazi plan will perish first, not because of the Nazi brutality, but because of the Nazi vulgarity and insolence. As in 1914 (and always) the German nation now reckons mathematically without considering the human equation. A mistake.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edna Ferber", "slug": "edna-ferber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber" }, "book": { "title": "A Peculiar Treasure", "slug": "a-peculiar-treasure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/a-peculiar-treasure" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_Ferber#A_Peculiar_Treasure_(1939)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:52" }, { "id": "2685c0cb-6421-425b-acc7-54482fa2c3b1", "slug": "what-appears-to-be-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/the-story-of-b/what-appears-to-be-kind", "text": "What appears to be kind and is meant to be kind can be the reverse of kind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel Quinn", "slug": "daniel-quinn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn" }, "book": { "title": "The Story of B", "slug": "the-story-of-b", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/the-story-of-b" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 140, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "appearances", "slug": "appearances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Quinn#The_Story_of_B_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:41" }, { "id": "63f6a554-824e-4bbb-a9ed-168bdf07c920", "slug": "one-who-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edgar-pangborn/good-neighbors-and-other-strangers/one-who-can", "text": "One who can define kindness only as the absence of cruelty has surely not begun to understand the nature of either.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edgar Pangborn", "slug": "edgar-pangborn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edgar-pangborn" }, "book": { "title": "Good Neighbors and Other Strangers", "slug": "good-neighbors-and-other-strangers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edgar-pangborn/good-neighbors-and-other-strangers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 154, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "cruelty", "slug": "cruelty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cruelty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Pangborn#Good_Neighbors_and_Other_Strangers_(1972)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:40" }, { "id": "c554a3fa-26b9-4ec5-b49c-b8d714685920", "slug": "sweetgrass-is-a-teacher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/sweetgrass-is-a-teacher", "text": "Sweetgrass is a teacher of healing, a symbol of kindness and compassion.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robin Wall Kimmerer", "slug": "robin-wall-kimmerer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer" }, "book": { "title": "Braiding Sweetgrass", "slug": "braiding-sweetgrass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 336, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "compassion", "slug": "compassion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robin_Wall_Kimmerer#Braiding_Sweetgrass_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:32" }, { "id": "54521bdc-0e43-4d4b-8acf-031ece15ea82", "slug": "most-people-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-h-wilson/amped/most-people-are", "text": "“Most people are good,” says Jim. “But not when they’re afraid.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel H. Wilson", "slug": "daniel-h-wilson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-h-wilson" }, "book": { "title": "Amped", "slug": "amped", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-h-wilson/amped" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 138, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_H._Wilson#Amped_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:29" }, { "id": "a0415880-dfec-4f19-bea3-6507a1e11cca", "slug": "when-people-think", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole/when-people-think", "text": "When people think your days are numbered, they're really very nice to you. It's only when you're trying to get on in the world that they bring their claws out.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Steve Toltz", "slug": "steve-toltz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz" }, "book": { "title": "A Fraction Of The Whole", "slug": "a-fraction-of-the-whole", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "hypocrisy", "slug": "hypocrisy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Toltz#Deadlock", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:10" }, { "id": "d78f2c73-9d5f-4523-bd33-999f82e9ba76", "slug": "i-suspect-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton/the-shepherds-hut/i-suspect-that", "text": "\"I suspect that God is what you do, not what or who you believe in. When you do right, Jaxie, when you make good - well, then you are an instrument of God. Then you are joined to the divine, to the life force, to life itself. That's what I believe. That's what I hope for. And it's what I have missed. Think of it this way. When somebody does me a kindness, it enlarges me, adds to my life, you see? And not only mine - it adds to all life.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tim Winton", "slug": "tim-winton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton" }, "book": { "title": "The Shepherd's Hut", "slug": "the-shepherds-hut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton/the-shepherds-hut" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 233, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Winton#The_Shepherd's_Hut_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:48" }, { "id": "12efc907-4207-4fbd-b7c1-4652aec54d45", "slug": "his-wife-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton/cloudstreet/his-wife-was", "text": "His wife was a good woman, and he understood that. But he remembered what the minister at Margaret River used to say - the good are fierce.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tim Winton", "slug": "tim-winton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton" }, "book": { "title": "Cloudstreet", "slug": "cloudstreet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-winton/cloudstreet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 150, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tim_Winton#Cloudstreet_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:47" }, { "id": "cdd3ea6d-0103-4b1f-945f-23a13b5b35c9", "slug": "angels-arent-pretty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/akwaeke-emezi/pet/angels-arent-pretty", "text": "Angels aren't pretty pictures in old holy books, just like monsters aren't ugly pictures. It's all just people, doing hard things or doing bad things.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Akwaeke Emezi", "slug": "akwaeke-emezi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/akwaeke-emezi" }, "book": { "title": "Pet", "slug": "pet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/akwaeke-emezi/pet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Akwaeke_Emezi#Pet(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:57" }, { "id": "e2289f1f-050d-4767-86f2-cb5384d3e1ef", "slug": "humans-are-basically", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-fifth-book-of-peace/humans-are-basically", "text": "Humans are basically good. That's why it takes so much training to march march march kill kill kill kill. (\"Earth\" p269)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maxine Hong Kingston", "slug": "maxine-hong-kingston", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston" }, "book": { "title": "The Fifth Book of Peace", "slug": "the-fifth-book-of-peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-fifth-book-of-peace" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxine_Hong_Kingston#The_Fifth_Book_of_Peace_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:46" }, { "id": "b9857c78-91ce-4df8-91ba-6aec8a65b724", "slug": "he-did-too", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/tripmaster-monkey/he-did-too", "text": "He did too have a philosophy of life: Do the right thing by whoever crosses your path. Those coincidental people are your people. (p223)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maxine Hong Kingston", "slug": "maxine-hong-kingston", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston" }, "book": { "title": "Tripmaster Monkey", "slug": "tripmaster-monkey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/tripmaster-monkey" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "chance", "slug": "chance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/chance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxine_Hong_Kingston#Tripmaster_Monkey:_His_Fake_Book_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:46" }, { "id": "2bb8c178-17a4-4a00-88f7-c482a250a306", "slug": "we-are-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/louise-erdrich/the-round-house/we-are-never", "text": "We are never so poor that we cannot bless another human being, are we? So it is that every evil, whether moral or material, results in good. You'll see. (p384)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Louise Erdrich", "slug": "louise-erdrich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/louise-erdrich" }, "book": { "title": "The Round House", "slug": "the-round-house", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/louise-erdrich/the-round-house" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louise_Erdrich#The_Round_House_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:45" }, { "id": "f4c83481-3e7f-44e8-bf21-9a0411dc73f3", "slug": "i-think-youll", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/young-hearts-crying/i-think-youll", "text": "\"I think you'll find ordinary people are nicer than you give them credit for being\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Yates", "slug": "richard-yates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates" }, "book": { "title": "Young Hearts Crying", "slug": "young-hearts-crying", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/young-hearts-crying" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 172, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Yates#Young_Hearts_Crying_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:43" }, { "id": "996815c3-4570-41ed-8c6d-1c737dcaa1ab", "slug": "most-people-do-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/the-easter-parade/most-people-do-the", "text": "Most people do the best they can.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Yates", "slug": "richard-yates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates" }, "book": { "title": "The Easter Parade", "slug": "the-easter-parade", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/the-easter-parade" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 225, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "judging others", "slug": "judging-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/judging-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Yates#The_Easter_Parade_(1976)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:42" }, { "id": "f0349209-c0b0-47a4-99ab-5b559d93c353", "slug": "fine-words-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/brother-to-dragons/fine-words-and", "text": "Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Sheffield", "slug": "charles-sheffield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield" }, "book": { "title": "Brother to Dragons", "slug": "brother-to-dragons", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/brother-to-dragons" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 111, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "appearances", "slug": "appearances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Brother_to_Dragons_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:34" }, { "id": "1e79dcfb-a168-4784-a6a5-e2744541bd6f", "slug": "angels-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maureen-corrigan/leave-me-alone-im-reading/angels-in-the", "text": "Angels in the house always die in the books they preside over because early ascension into heaven is their reward—and because their goodness makes them boring.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maureen Corrigan", "slug": "maureen-corrigan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maureen-corrigan" }, "book": { "title": "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading", "slug": "leave-me-alone-im-reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maureen-corrigan/leave-me-alone-im-reading" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 141, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" }, { "name": "boredom", "slug": "boredom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/boredom" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maureen_Corrigan#Leave_Me_Alone,_I'm_Reading_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:28" }, { "id": "b9583456-17f0-4aaa-aed0-72a5578b1bf5", "slug": "everything-looked-so-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-sweet/slow-medicine/everything-looked-so-good", "text": "Everything looked so good in the computer, and yet what Father had gotten was not Medicine but Health Care-- Medicine without a soul. What do I mean by \"soul\"? I mean what Father did not get. Presence. Attention. Judgment. Kindness. Above all, responsibility.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Victoria Sweet", "slug": "victoria-sweet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-sweet" }, "book": { "title": "Slow Medicine", "slug": "slow-medicine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-sweet/slow-medicine" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" }, { "name": "medicine", "slug": "medicine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/medicine" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Victoria_Sweet#Slow_Medicine:_The_Way_to_Healing_(2017)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:14" }, { "id": "87ddfd01-15f4-4f14-ac9b-b4402f8cbd11", "slug": "if-a-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell/black-beauty/if-a-thing", "text": "If a thing is right, it can be done, and if it is wrong, it can be done without; and a good man will find a way.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anna Sewell", "slug": "anna-sewell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell" }, "book": { "title": "Black Beauty", "slug": "black-beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell/black-beauty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 182, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Sewell#Black_Beauty_(1877)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:13" }, { "id": "b9588904-7e1a-46a4-aadb-3d067a981c03", "slug": "oh-if-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell/black-beauty/oh-if-people", "text": "Oh! if people knew what a comfort to horses a light hand is.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anna Sewell", "slug": "anna-sewell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell" }, "book": { "title": "Black Beauty", "slug": "black-beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell/black-beauty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 47, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Sewell#Black_Beauty_(1877)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:12" }, { "id": "a2deff08-8db2-4f0c-8118-ddcb52df07f7", "slug": "t-here-is-no-religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell/black-beauty/t-here-is-no-religion", "text": "[T]here is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anna Sewell", "slug": "anna-sewell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell" }, "book": { "title": "Black Beauty", "slug": "black-beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anna-sewell/black-beauty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 66, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" }, { "name": "veganism", "slug": "veganism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/veganism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anna_Sewell#Black_Beauty_(1877)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:12" }, { "id": "7678a47b-f935-470e-9cf9-fa2cb656b952", "slug": "the-only-hope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-finkel/the-good-soldiers/the-only-hope", "text": "\"The only hope you have is to get her to an American hospital?\" Cummings asked, repeating what Izzy had just said. Izzy started to answer. The cell phone went dead. \"Izzy?\" Cummings said. \"Izzy?\" How did moments of decency occur in this war? \"Izzy,\" Cummings said. \"Bring your daughter here.\" That was how.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Finkel", "slug": "david-finkel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-finkel" }, "book": { "title": "The Good Soldiers", "slug": "the-good-soldiers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-finkel/the-good-soldiers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 169, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Finkel#The_Good_Soldiers_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:10" }, { "id": "8319e8d1-70b9-4190-82b7-eeff840930d0", "slug": "i-wonder-sometimes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark/i-wonder-sometimes", "text": "I wonder sometimes what would happen if victory was imagined not just as the elimination of evil but the establishment of good (p61)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Rebecca Solnit", "slug": "rebecca-solnit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit" }, "book": { "title": "Hope In The Dark", "slug": "hope-in-the-dark", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rebecca_Solnit#Hope_in_the_Dark:_The_Untold_History_of_People_Power_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:51" }, { "id": "33dbbbf0-8d85-4fbf-b58f-35ace25a51b9", "slug": "nothing-fills-us-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-moran/the-good-karma-diet/nothing-fills-us-with", "text": "Nothing fills us with deep and lasting joy the way that doing a good turn for someone else does. Saving somebody's life, human or animal, is that “good turn” in spades.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Victoria Moran", "slug": "victoria-moran", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-moran" }, "book": { "title": "The Good Karma Diet", "slug": "the-good-karma-diet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-moran/the-good-karma-diet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" }, { "name": "veganism", "slug": "veganism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/veganism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Victoria_Moran#The_Good_Karma_Diet_(2015)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:42" }, { "id": "cd2f142c-09ed-4ccf-bf03-20d7ccfcd363", "slug": "i-ask-my-kids", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gorsuch/a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it/i-ask-my-kids", "text": "I ask my kids every semester when I teach ethics. I finish the semester by asking them to spend five minutes writing their obituary. They hate it. They think it is corny, and it might be a little corny. And then I ask them if they will volunteer to read some of them, and when they do, it always becomes clear people want to be remembered for the kindnesses they showed other people. And what I point out to them- what I try to point out- is that it is not how big your bank account balance is. Nobody ever puts that in their draft obituary, or that they billed the most hours, or that they won the most cases. It is how you treated other people along the way that matters. And for me, it is the words I read yesterday from Increase Sumner's tombstone [see page 321]. And that means as a person I would like to be remembered as a good dad, a good husband, kind and mild in private life, dignified and firm in public life. I have no illusions that I will be remembered for very long. If Byron White is nearly forgotten, as he is now and said he would be, I have no illusions that I will last five minutes. That is as it should be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gorsuch", "slug": "neil-gorsuch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gorsuch" }, "book": { "title": "A Republic, If You Can Keep It", "slug": "a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gorsuch/a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 322, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Gorsuch#A_Republic,_If_You_Can_Keep_It_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:29" }, { "id": "c926f99c-2535-4233-af43-3f51dca918f8", "slug": "as-i-tried", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-stedman/faitheist/as-i-tried", "text": "As I tried to understand my desire to “do good” and where it came from, I decided I did it because Jesus commanded that we care for the needy. But after I lost the faith, I remembered that I had always tried to do good and help others, and that the desire to act selflessly for others transcends religion. Though I didn’t have the words for it at the time, I was beginning to cultivate my Humanistic worldview.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chris Stedman", "slug": "chris-stedman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-stedman" }, "book": { "title": "Faitheist", "slug": "faitheist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-stedman/faitheist" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 109, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chris_Stedman#Faitheist_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:29" }, { "id": "91dcbf38-c022-46a7-b0bd-693cad020d8f", "slug": "we-are-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/bleak-house/we-are-not", "text": "We are not rich in the bank, but we have always prospered, and we have quite enough. I never walk out with my husband but I hear the people bless him. I never go into a house of any degree but I hear his praises or see them in grateful eyes. I never lie down at night but I know that in the course of that day he has alleviated pain and soothed some fellow-creature in the time of need. I know that from the beds of those who were past recovery, thanks have often, often gone up, in the last hour, for his patient ministration. Is not this to be rich?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Bleak House", "slug": "bleak-house", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/bleak-house" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bleak_House#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:27" }, { "id": "646b81bb-d4d1-4bbc-9c7a-fa218a09a294", "slug": "i-wouldnt-give", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucy-maud-montgomery/anne-of-the-island/i-wouldnt-give", "text": "\"I wouldn't give up altogether,\" said Mr. Harrison reflectively. \"I'd write a story once in a while, but I wouldn't pester editors with it. I'd write of people and places like I knew, and I'd make my characters talk everyday English; and I'd let the sun rise and set in the usual quiet way without much fuss over the fact. If I had to have villains at all, I'd give them a chance, Anne—I'd give them a chance. There are some terrible bad men in the world, I suppose, but you'd have to go a long piece to find them—though Mrs. Lynde believes we're all bad. But most of us have got a little decency somewhere in us.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lucy Maud Montgomery", "slug": "lucy-maud-montgomery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucy-maud-montgomery" }, "book": { "title": "Anne of the Island", "slug": "anne-of-the-island", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucy-maud-montgomery/anne-of-the-island" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lucy_Maud_Montgomery#Anne_of_the_Island_(1915)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:04" }, { "id": "0525d018-cf0f-42f5-8925-ed95dd07ee4f", "slug": "only-good-deeds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat/breath-eyes-memory/only-good-deeds", "text": "\"Only good deeds demand respect.\" (chapter 15, p110)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edwidge Danticat", "slug": "edwidge-danticat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat" }, "book": { "title": "Breath, Eyes, Memory", "slug": "breath-eyes-memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat/breath-eyes-memory" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "respect", "slug": "respect", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/respect" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edwidge_Danticat#Breath,_Eyes,_Memory_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:52" }, { "id": "13258bf7-099c-49c5-b7c7-08fc05bc98e5", "slug": "we-have-to-be-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-howatch/the-wheel-of-fortune/we-have-to-be-kind", "text": "'... we have to be kind, we have to be charitable and we can't condemn people just because they get in a mess...even the best people can get into ghastly messes,...we must never judge other people too harshly because although they can make awful mistakes they can still be very nice people.'", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susan Howatch", "slug": "susan-howatch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-howatch" }, "book": { "title": "The Wheel Of Fortune", "slug": "the-wheel-of-fortune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-howatch/the-wheel-of-fortune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "mistakes", "slug": "mistakes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Howatch#Part_4:_Kester", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:45" }, { "id": "1f0be5fd-5436-40d5-82c5-06e5e67aee68", "slug": "what-could-be-colder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake/what-could-be-colder", "text": "“What could be colder than being made to feel the utter futility of existence? To know that not only is there no meaning to anything, but there never can be? That life itself is completely devoid of purpose? That nothing will be remembered? That despite our grandest efforts our boldest endeavours, nothing can or will ever be preserved? That the kindest acts are doomed to be forgotten, along with the cruelest? All loves, all hates erased from the record? Yes, what could be worse than that?”\n\n“You tell me.”\n\n“Nothing. Nothing at all in the whole of creation. And if death troubles me—which, I am pleased to say, it most certainly does—then the idea of not even being remembered, not even leaving the tiniest quantum ripple in the wake of the coming vacuum fluctuation…well, that is a great deal more than troubling. We live by our deeds, whether we are machines or people or elephants. And if our deeds are meaningless and forgotten what does that make us?”\n\n“Nothing,” Kanu answered, fiercely enough that he spoke the word aloud. “Pointless interactions between matter and energy, doomed to be erased. That’s the message, Swift. That there’s no meaning. That we don’t matter.”\n\n“No,” Swift answered with corresponding force. “We do matter. This truth does not rob us of meaning—it gives it back to us. It liberates us from the burden of posterity, from the burden of deluding ourselves that our acts have some chance of outlasting eternity. If we are kind to each other now, it’s not because we are hoping to be remembered well, to be lauded in some great accounting of things. It’s not because we want to be rewarded for our behaviour, or to be admired for the wonderful things we did during our brief span of existence. Exactly the opposite! Now that we know there is no chance of that, our deeds have no higher meaning than the context of the moment in which they occur. One decent deed, one kind gesture, enacted without thought of recompense or remembrance, performed in the full and certain knowledge that it will be forgotten, that it cannot be otherwise—that single deed refutes the entire message of the M-builders. They were wrong! There is no Terror, only enlightenment! Only liberation! And we will continue to refute their message with every gracious act, every decent thought, every human kindness—until the moment the vacuum rips.”\n\n“Just a fancy speech, Swift. That’s all it is.”\n\n“More than a speech, Kanu. A viable moral strategy for negating the M-builders’ nihilism. It’s a choice. A question of free will. Do you choose it, or reject it?”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alastair Reynolds", "slug": "alastair-reynolds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds" }, "book": { "title": "Poseidon's Wake", "slug": "poseidons-wake", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 599, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" }, { "name": "nihilism", "slug": "nihilism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nihilism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#Poseidon's_Wake_(2015)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:43" }, { "id": "535cc74b-3d67-4b2f-a1fe-78e3c81f2929", "slug": "this-is-a-kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/on-the-steel-breeze/this-is-a-kindness", "text": "This is a kindness, a thing done to another human being for no reason other than compassion. A private, dignified act of basic human decency, which history, being the bastard that it is, will probably neglect to commemorate.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alastair Reynolds", "slug": "alastair-reynolds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds" }, "book": { "title": "On the Steel Breeze", "slug": "on-the-steel-breeze", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/on-the-steel-breeze" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 304, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "compassion", "slug": "compassion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#On_the_Steel_Breeze_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:42" }, { "id": "e69faeb3-b4d2-4b46-bc4a-ee95b441411a", "slug": "im-hearing-a-lot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/house-of-suns/im-hearing-a-lot", "text": "“I’m hearing a lot of reasons why someone wouldn’t hold a grudge against us,” Campion said.\n\nBetony looked sympathetic. “Then you misunderstand human nature, my dear fellow. People will hate us simply for being what we are: a force for good, for benign non-interference. The mere fact that we haven’t dirtied our hands, that we’ve maintained an unblemished reputation—that’s enough to make someone detest us.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alastair Reynolds", "slug": "alastair-reynolds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds" }, "book": { "title": "House of Suns", "slug": "house-of-suns", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/house-of-suns" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 209, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "hatred", "slug": "hatred", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hatred" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#House_of_Suns_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:40" }, { "id": "f0bcf0d0-8f6f-415a-b74f-25ea49f5e748", "slug": "pain-and-suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton/cry-the-beloved-country/pain-and-suffering", "text": "Pain and suffering, they are a secret. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alan Paton", "slug": "alan-paton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton" }, "book": { "title": "Cry, The Beloved Country", "slug": "cry-the-beloved-country", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-paton/cry-the-beloved-country" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Paton#Cry,_the_Beloved_Country,_(1948)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:29" }, { "id": "391ce4b2-836e-492a-a776-e166f1bcd515", "slug": "and-someone-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gordon-r-dickson/dorsai/and-someone-that", "text": "“And someone that brilliant must be a devil?” queried Galt, dryly.\n\n“Not at all,” explained Donal, patiently. “But having such intellectual capabilities, a man must show proportionately greater inclinations toward either good or evil than lesser people. If he tends toward evil, he may mask it in himself—he may even mask its effect on the people with which he surrounds himself. But he has no way of producing the reflections of good which would ordinarily be reflected from his lieutenants and initiates—and which, if he was truly good—he would have no reason to try and hide. And by that lack, you can read him.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gordon R. Dickson", "slug": "gordon-r-dickson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gordon-r-dickson" }, "book": { "title": "Dorsai!", "slug": "dorsai", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gordon-r-dickson/dorsai" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 386, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "intelligence", "slug": "intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gordon_R._Dickson#Dorsai!_(1960)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:27" }, { "id": "a077e709-b7ec-4cfa-9906-9a9bee343458", "slug": "it-is-perhaps", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/delusions-master/it-is-perhaps", "text": "It is perhaps a fact, that to the truly good, life, and the ways of men, and goodness itself, are very simple things. What to others appeared as her virtuousness, was to her merely her state of being. She did not set out to be good. She was good naturally, as another breathed. Hate and bitterness and envy and despair, those four envenomed serpents gnawing the livers of mankind, could not get in at her. But to herself she was nothing special; only herself to herself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tanith Lee", "slug": "tanith-lee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee" }, "book": { "title": "Delusion’s Master", "slug": "delusions-master", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/delusions-master" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 117, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tanith_Lee#Delusion's_Master_(1981)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:23" }, { "id": "0d956dbf-3083-45dc-a4cc-0de2879a8d24", "slug": "for-you-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/delusions-master/for-you-are", "text": "For you are mad, my dear, in following this vocation. Even your goodness is a craziness. But then, all the very good are mad, just as the very wicked are mad. In fact, there is hardly any difference between the holy and the profane, save in their ideals and their deeds. Both are fanatics. Both are ruthless.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tanith Lee", "slug": "tanith-lee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee" }, "book": { "title": "Delusion’s Master", "slug": "delusions-master", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tanith-lee/delusions-master" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 124, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "fanaticism", "slug": "fanaticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fanaticism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tanith_Lee#Delusion's_Master_(1981)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:23" }, { "id": "e8a89f0b-8d6a-4f79-b0cd-a8b8683e40d4", "slug": "if-you-feel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-cahan/the-rise-of-david-levinsky/if-you-feel", "text": "If you feel that you are good, don't be too proud of it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abraham Cahan", "slug": "abraham-cahan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-cahan" }, "book": { "title": "The Rise of David Levinsky", "slug": "the-rise-of-david-levinsky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-cahan/the-rise-of-david-levinsky" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Cahan#The_Rise_of_David_Levinsky_(1917)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:54" }, { "id": "5ce6a93e-bddc-4cd1-b4bb-5c51e6baf61c", "slug": "mere-abstention-from", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lin-carter/kesrick/mere-abstention-from", "text": "Mere abstention from a life of evil does not constitute a life devoted to good works.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lin Carter", "slug": "lin-carter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lin-carter" }, "book": { "title": "Kesrick", "slug": "kesrick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lin-carter/kesrick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 25, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lin_Carter#Kesrick_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:53" }, { "id": "69efbe79-0656-4bff-b1a1-59f7ef00cba5", "slug": "mitch-was-the-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/the-rescue/mitch-was-the-kind", "text": "\"Mitch...was the kind of man who added something to everything he touched and everyone he came in contact with. I was envious of his view on life. He saw it all as a big game, where the only way to win was to be good to other people, to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and like what you see.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicholas Sparks", "slug": "nicholas-sparks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks" }, "book": { "title": "The Rescue", "slug": "the-rescue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/the-rescue" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 300, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicholas_Sparks#The_Rescue_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:21" }, { "id": "a8d80a87-ce1a-4b4c-8089-d76567400ed1", "slug": "a-gentle-heart", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons/a-gentle-heart", "text": "A gentle heart may be worth more than pride or valor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Dance with Dragons", "slug": "a-dance-with-dragons", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "courage", "slug": "courage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/courage" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Dance_with_Dragons_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:55" }, { "id": "013982e2-6f82-41bc-bf03-32c3f8574abc", "slug": "perhaps-i-cannot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons/perhaps-i-cannot", "text": "Perhaps I cannot make my people good, but I should at least try to make them a little less bad.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Dance with Dragons", "slug": "a-dance-with-dragons", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-dance-with-dragons" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "leadership", "slug": "leadership", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Dance_with_Dragons_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:55" }, { "id": "6e7fa9ca-3625-4e83-abb2-555b19ca4489", "slug": "a-lie-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows/a-lie-is-not", "text": "A lie is not so bad if it is kindly meant.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Feast for Crows", "slug": "a-feast-for-crows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "lies", "slug": "lies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/lies" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Feast_for_Crows_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:53" }, { "id": "e0768331-1634-4f18-b75d-92c98d17100d", "slug": "in-the-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords/in-the-world", "text": "In the world as I have seen it, no man grows rich by kindness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Storm of Swords", "slug": "a-storm-of-swords", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Storm_of_Swords_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:50" }, { "id": "c66ffab3-0bbc-46dd-bbf4-a923978a273c", "slug": "at-the-very", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cooper/the-grey-king/at-the-very", "text": "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else. You are like fanatics. Your masters, at any rate. Like the old Crusaders—oh, like certain groups in every belief, though this is not a matter of religion, of course. At the centre of the Light there is a cold white flame, just as at the centre of the Dark there is a great black pit bottomless as the Universe.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susan Cooper", "slug": "susan-cooper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cooper" }, "book": { "title": "The Grey King", "slug": "the-grey-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cooper/the-grey-king" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 115, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "fanaticism", "slug": "fanaticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fanaticism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Cooper#The_Grey_King_(1975)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:42" }, { "id": "2923657d-a375-4088-9e9e-78be57575f3f", "slug": "jared-allow-me-to-share", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-scalzi/the-ghost-brigades/jared-allow-me-to-share", "text": "Jared, allow me to share with you my philosophy of human beings. It can be summed up in four words: I like good people.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Scalzi", "slug": "john-scalzi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-scalzi" }, "book": { "title": "The Ghost Brigades", "slug": "the-ghost-brigades", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-scalzi/the-ghost-brigades" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 113, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Scalzi#The_Ghost_Brigades_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:42" }, { "id": "76985e82-75ea-4561-aec1-4182a8ba72ec", "slug": "you-have-heard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cooper/over-sea-under-stone/you-have-heard", "text": "“You have heard me talk of Logres. It was the old name for this country, thousands of years ago; in the old days when the struggle between good and evil was more bitter and open than it is now. That struggle goes on all round us all the time, like two armies fighting. And sometimes one of them seems to be winning and sometimes the other, but neither has ever triumphed altogether. Nor ever will,” he added softly to himself, “for there is something of each in every man.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susan Cooper", "slug": "susan-cooper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cooper" }, "book": { "title": "Over Sea, Under Stone", "slug": "over-sea-under-stone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cooper/over-sea-under-stone" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 74, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Cooper#Over_Sea,_Under_Stone_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:41" }, { "id": "2a7ea85e-da97-4022-8ee8-0a19776d8beb", "slug": "the-thoughts-of-worldly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/barnaby-rudge/the-thoughts-of-worldly", "text": "The thoughts of worldly men are for ever regulated by a moral law of gravitation, which, like the physical one, holds them down to earth. The bright glory of day, and the silent wonders of a starlit night, appeal to their minds in vain. There are no signs in the sun, or in the moon, or in the stars, for their reading. They are like some wise men, who, learning to know each planet by its Latin name, have quite forgotten such small heavenly constellations as Charity, Forbearance, Universal Love, and Mercy, although they shine by night and day so brightly that the blind may see them; and who, looking upward at the spangled sky, see nothing there but the reflection of their own great wisdom and book-learning.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Barnaby Rudge", "slug": "barnaby-rudge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/barnaby-rudge" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barnaby_Rudge#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:37" }, { "id": "ddd597d4-cb8b-495c-99a1-0c647b012cc6", "slug": "i-feel-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/i-feel-like", "text": "‘I feel like I been everywhere God got land,’ Dove thought, ‘yet all I found was people with hard ways to go. All I found was troubles 'n degradation. All I found was that those with the hardest ways of all to go were quicker to help others than those with the easiest ways. All I found was two kinds of people. Them that would rather live on the loser's side of the street with the other losers than to win off by theirselves; and them who want to be one of the winners even though the only way left for them to win was over them who have already been whipped. / ‘All I found was men and women, and all the women were fallen. Sports of the world, poor bummies, poor tarts, all they were good for was to draw flies I was told. You could always treat one too good, it was said, but you never could treat one too bad. Yet I wouldn't trade off the worst of the lot for the best of the other kind. I think they were the real salt of the earth.’", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "A Walk On The Wild Side", "slug": "a-walk-on-the-wild-side", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side#Chapter_3", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:25" }, { "id": "43f2ece5-a5bb-4cfb-afd3-394f06d7c6f8", "slug": "the-poorer-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/the-poorer-people", "text": "‘The poorer people are the more likely they are to help you,’ Kitty told him the next morning after they had once again left engine and cars in charge of the crew. ‘Pick the first unpainted shack you see.’ / She followed Dove into a littered yard and waited while he rapped the door of a knocked-together-by-hand house the color of soot. A soot-colored wife came to answer.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "A Walk On The Wild Side", "slug": "a-walk-on-the-wild-side", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side#Chapter_1", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:24" }, { "id": "21f52ed5-a3e3-4fcd-8f7b-7053f69a8ddc", "slug": "she-got-too", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm/she-got-too", "text": "‘She got too big a heart, that girl,’ Antek explained of Molly when John had left. ‘A guy can walk into her heart with army boots on.’", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "The Man with the Golden Arm", "slug": "the-man-with-the-golden-arm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Arm#Part_1._Rumors_of_Evening", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:22" }, { "id": "8f132e89-1d13-4de2-b9c2-9a2782bcd690", "slug": "you-founded-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ellen-kushner/the-privilege-of-the-sword/you-founded-the", "text": "“You founded the place. Why don’t you want to go?”\n\n“I don’t like children,” the duke replied.\n\n“Then why put out all that money to preserve them?”\n\n“Because it is wrong to let them die.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ellen Kushner", "slug": "ellen-kushner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ellen-kushner" }, "book": { "title": "The Privilege of the Sword", "slug": "the-privilege-of-the-sword", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ellen-kushner/the-privilege-of-the-sword" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 79, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "children", "slug": "children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ellen_Kushner#The_Privilege_of_the_Sword_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:06" }, { "id": "25d93efa-324d-4a34-98fa-e9e8d1ceb4bc", "slug": "those-who-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mencius/mencius/those-who-are", "text": "Those who are humane achieve glory. Those who are inhumane suffer disgrace.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mencius", "slug": "mencius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mencius" }, "book": { "title": "Mencius", "slug": "mencius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mencius/mencius" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mencius#The_Mencius", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:06" }, { "id": "0920733f-6185-4bc7-a346-1914f7436479", "slug": "if-you-let", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mencius/mencius/if-you-let", "text": "If you let people follow their feelings, they will be able to do good. This is what is meant by saying that human nature is good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mencius", "slug": "mencius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mencius" }, "book": { "title": "Mencius", "slug": "mencius", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mencius/mencius" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mencius#The_Mencius", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:06" }, { "id": "4691a22c-a923-40e8-a60a-3a94e01bb786", "slug": "what-men-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eleanor-h-porter/pollyanna/what-men-and", "text": "What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened.... Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Hold up to him his better self, his REAL self that can dare and do and win out!... The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.... People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a man feels kindly and obliging, his neighbors will feel that way, too, before long. But if he scolds and scowls and criticizes — his neighbors will return scowl for scowl, and add interest!... When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good — you will get that.... Tell your son Tom you KNOW he'll be glad to fill that woodbox — then watch him start, alert and interested!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eleanor H. Porter", "slug": "eleanor-h-porter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eleanor-h-porter" }, "book": { "title": "Pollyanna", "slug": "pollyanna", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eleanor-h-porter/pollyanna" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "optimism", "slug": "optimism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/optimism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_H._Porter#Pollyanna_(1913)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:56" }, { "id": "eaca9827-fea2-42be-bdb0-8daf8187f8c3", "slug": "the-single-most", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derren-brown/confessions-of-a-conjuror/the-single-most", "text": "The single most valuable human trait, the one quality every schoolchild and adult should be taught to nurture, is, quite simply, kindness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Derren Brown", "slug": "derren-brown", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derren-brown" }, "book": { "title": "Confessions of a Conjuror", "slug": "confessions-of-a-conjuror", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derren-brown/confessions-of-a-conjuror" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Derren_Brown#Confessions_of_a_Conjuror_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:47" }, { "id": "51644d46-f6f4-4e43-b0e2-c3500fdf270d", "slug": "each-of-us-is-leading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derren-brown/confessions-of-a-conjuror/each-of-us-is-leading", "text": "Each of us is leading a difficult life, and when we meet people we are seeing only a tiny part of the thinnest veneer of their complex, troubled existences. To practice anything other than kindness towards them, to treat them in any way save generously, is to quietly deny their humanity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Derren Brown", "slug": "derren-brown", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derren-brown" }, "book": { "title": "Confessions of a Conjuror", "slug": "confessions-of-a-conjuror", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/derren-brown/confessions-of-a-conjuror" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "empathy", "slug": "empathy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Derren_Brown#Confessions_of_a_Conjuror_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:47" }, { "id": "5e58b050-77c6-4cd4-b4a8-daf82c1c8bb0", "slug": "friends-romans-countrymen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-shakespeare/julius-caesar/friends-romans-countrymen", "text": "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;\n\nI come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.\n\nThe evil that men do lives after them;\n\nThe good is oft interred with their bones.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Shakespeare", "slug": "william-shakespeare", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-shakespeare" }, "book": { "title": "Julius Caesar", "slug": "julius-caesar", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-shakespeare/julius-caesar" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare#Julius_Caesar_(1599)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:45" }, { "id": "8bc15f76-a584-4778-8454-2a6f83c82ac6", "slug": "deeds-that-seemed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karen-armstrong/muhammad/deeds-that-seemed", "text": "Deeds that seemed unimportant at the time would prove to have been momentous; a tiny act of selfishness and unkindness or, conversely, an unconsidered act of generosity would become the measure of a human life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Karen Armstrong", "slug": "karen-armstrong", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karen-armstrong" }, "book": { "title": "Muhammad", "slug": "muhammad", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karen-armstrong/muhammad" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "generosity", "slug": "generosity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/generosity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong#Muhammad:_A_Biography_of_The_Prophet_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:32" }, { "id": "702280b7-6793-47bd-b129-931db757e067", "slug": "i-tremble-for", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karen-armstrong/the-spiral-staircase/i-tremble-for", "text": "I tremble for our world, where, in the smallest ways, we find it impossible, as Marshall Hodgson enjoined, to find room for the other in our minds. If we cannot accommodate a viewpoint in a friend without resorting to unkindness, how can we hope to heal the terrible problems of our planet? I no longer think that any principle or opinion is worth anything if it makes you unkind or intolerant.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Karen Armstrong", "slug": "karen-armstrong", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karen-armstrong" }, "book": { "title": "The Spiral Staircase", "slug": "the-spiral-staircase", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/karen-armstrong/the-spiral-staircase" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "tolerance", "slug": "tolerance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tolerance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong#The_Spiral_Staircase:_My_Climb_Out_of_Darkness_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:32" }, { "id": "f6b5ec34-0044-432c-9602-9a3beb390482", "slug": "i-was-feeling", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/last-chance-to-see/i-was-feeling", "text": "I was feeling pretty raw about my own species because we presume to draw a distinction between what we call good and what we call evil. We find our images of what we call evil in things outside ourselves, in creatures that know nothing of such matters, so that we can feel revolted by them, and, by contrast, good about ourselves.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Adams", "slug": "douglas-adams", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams" }, "book": { "title": "Last Chance to See", "slug": "last-chance-to-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/last-chance-to-see" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 48, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "hypocrisy", "slug": "hypocrisy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See#Chapter_2:_Here_Be_Chickens", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:30" }, { "id": "56665341-1779-4feb-8917-a9d4068e74a1", "slug": "i-believe-in-kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-oliver/evidence/i-believe-in-kindness", "text": "I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Oliver", "slug": "mary-oliver", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-oliver" }, "book": { "title": "Evidence", "slug": "evidence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-oliver/evidence" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Oliver#Evidence_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:20" }, { "id": "8e2d8d0d-435f-4401-be36-fe765026ec62", "slug": "it-was-better", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patrick-rothfuss/the-slow-regard-of-silent-things/it-was-better", "text": "It was better to be gentle and polite. It was the worst sort of selfishness to force yourself upon the world.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Patrick Rothfuss", "slug": "patrick-rothfuss", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patrick-rothfuss" }, "book": { "title": "The Slow Regard of Silent Things", "slug": "the-slow-regard-of-silent-things", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patrick-rothfuss/the-slow-regard-of-silent-things" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 108, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patrick_Rothfuss#The_Slow_Regard_of_Silent_Things_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:09" }, { "id": "879589c7-56b1-48b4-be7c-5d45291ed3b6", "slug": "i-think-said", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-corridors-of-time/i-think-said", "text": "“I think,” said John, “you’d do well to remember what one of our philosophers wrote. All evil is a good become cancerous.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Poul Anderson", "slug": "poul-anderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson" }, "book": { "title": "The Corridors of Time", "slug": "the-corridors-of-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-corridors-of-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 131, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Corridors_of_Time_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:45" }, { "id": "7bbd2725-38eb-437b-98e5-b111f576fe8a", "slug": "what-was-right", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/vault-of-the-ages/what-was-right", "text": "What was right? A man should live justly—but too often it was hard to say which was the road of justice. At any rate, this war was not a struggle of evil against good, black against white; it was a fight between many human beings, none of whom was wholly bad or wholly good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Poul Anderson", "slug": "poul-anderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson" }, "book": { "title": "Vault of the Ages", "slug": "vault-of-the-ages", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/vault-of-the-ages" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 99, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#Vault_of_the_Ages_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:42" }, { "id": "1620501a-c44c-41fa-b7cc-deec5e9311d8", "slug": "bitterness-is-repaid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/the-way-of-kings/bitterness-is-repaid", "text": "Bitterness is repaid more often than kindness. One of his father’s sayings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Brandon Sanderson", "slug": "brandon-sanderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson" }, "book": { "title": "The Way of Kings", "slug": "the-way-of-kings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/the-way-of-kings" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 98, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "resentment", "slug": "resentment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/resentment" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson#The_Way_of_Kings_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:35" }, { "id": "edcedfaa-e457-418d-9cba-8a6204b27974", "slug": "benevolence-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthieu-ricard/a-plea-for-the-animals/benevolence-is-not", "text": "Benevolence is not a commodity that needs to be distributed sparingly like cake or chocolate. It is away of being, an attitude, an intention to do good for those who enter our sphere of attention and the wish to alleviate their suffering. Loving animals also does not mean loving humans less. In fact, by also loving animals we love people better, because our benevolence is then vaster and therefore of better quality. Someone who loves only a selection of sentient beings, even of humanity, is the possessor of only fragmentary and impoverished benevolence.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Matthieu Ricard", "slug": "matthieu-ricard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthieu-ricard" }, "book": { "title": "A Plea for the Animals", "slug": "a-plea-for-the-animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthieu-ricard/a-plea-for-the-animals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 98, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" }, { "name": "compassion", "slug": "compassion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthieu_Ricard#A_Plea_for_the_Animals_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:32" }, { "id": "cd14d71e-f6c7-49aa-91e1-e0b8a72b6ac8", "slug": "kindness-altruistic-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthieu-ricard/a-plea-for-the-animals/kindness-altruistic-love", "text": "Kindness, altruistic love, and compassion are qualities that do not harmonize well with bias. Restricting the field of our compassion not only diminishes it quantitatively but also qualitatively. Applying our compassion only to certain beings, human beings in this case, makes it a lesser and a poorer thing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Matthieu Ricard", "slug": "matthieu-ricard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthieu-ricard" }, "book": { "title": "A Plea for the Animals", "slug": "a-plea-for-the-animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/matthieu-ricard/a-plea-for-the-animals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 39, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" }, { "name": "compassion", "slug": "compassion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthieu_Ricard#A_Plea_for_the_Animals_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:32" }, { "id": "b4c90652-c9b2-4f66-81c3-245a629b1a1e", "slug": "good-can-be-done", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/liquidation/good-can-be-done", "text": "Good can be done in a life in which Evil is the life principle, but only at the cost of the doer’s sacrificing his life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Imre Kertész", "slug": "imre-kertesz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz" }, "book": { "title": "Liquidation", "slug": "liquidation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/liquidation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "sacrifice", "slug": "sacrifice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sacrifice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Imre_Kert%C3%A9sz#Liquidation_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:30" }, { "id": "a290eb09-d01c-4ca0-95ad-f23d64b2b827", "slug": "power-isnt-doing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jodi-picoult/the-storyteller/power-isnt-doing", "text": "Power isn't doing something terrible to someone who's weaker than you, … It's having the strength to do something terrible, and choosing not to.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jodi Picoult", "slug": "jodi-picoult", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jodi-picoult" }, "book": { "title": "The Storyteller", "slug": "the-storyteller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jodi-picoult/the-storyteller" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jodi_Picoult#The_Storyteller_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:24" }, { "id": "4f51a572-ddc6-4741-8f42-1ab93cc19a12", "slug": "an-appeal-to-a-goodness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frederick-rolfe/hadrian-the-seventh/an-appeal-to-a-goodness", "text": "An appeal to a goodness which is not in him is, to a vain and sensitive soul, a stinging insult.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frederick Rolfe", "slug": "frederick-rolfe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frederick-rolfe" }, "book": { "title": "Hadrian the Seventh", "slug": "hadrian-the-seventh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frederick-rolfe/hadrian-the-seventh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 296, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "vanity", "slug": "vanity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/vanity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frederick_Rolfe#Hadrian_the_Seventh_(1904)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:23" }, { "id": "562ae67f-f3eb-4f31-9070-d10b8b069779", "slug": "plenty-of-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth/faith-and-politics/plenty-of-kind", "text": "Plenty of kind, decent, caring people have no religious beliefs, and they act out of the goodness of their hearts. Conversely, plenty of people who profess to be religious, even those who worship regularly, show no particular interest in the world beyond themselves.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Danforth", "slug": "john-danforth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth" }, "book": { "title": "Faith and Politics", "slug": "faith-and-politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-danforth/faith-and-politics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 186, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Danforth#Faith_and_Politics_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:22" }, { "id": "25a906e7-2e52-42a2-a112-c5b8b4246f16", "slug": "dyrnwyn-is-yours", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-high-king/dyrnwyn-is-yours", "text": "“Dyrnwyn is yours,” Gwydion said, “as it was meant to be.”\n\n“Yet Arawn is slain,” Taran replied. “Evil is conquered and the blade’s work done.”\n\n“Evil conquered?” said Gwydion. “You have learned much, but learn this last and hardest of lessons. You have conquered only the enchantments of evil. That was the easiest of your tasks, only a beginning, not an ending. Do you believe evil itself so quickly overcome? Not so long as men still hate and slay each other, when greed and anger goad them. Against these even a flaming sword cannot prevail, but only that portion of good in all men’s hearts whose flame can never be quenched.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lloyd Alexander", "slug": "lloyd-alexander", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander" }, "book": { "title": "The High King", "slug": "the-high-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-high-king" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "hatred", "slug": "hatred", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hatred" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander#Book_V_:_The_High_King_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:08" }, { "id": "22061aba-f917-42e1-9a27-fd3dc7bffd71", "slug": "it-is-easy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-black-cauldron/it-is-easy", "text": "“It is easy to judge evil unmixed,” replied Gwydion. “But, alas, in most of us good and bad are closely woven as the threads on a loom; greater wisdom than mine is needed for the judging.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lloyd Alexander", "slug": "lloyd-alexander", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander" }, "book": { "title": "The Black Cauldron", "slug": "the-black-cauldron", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lloyd-alexander/the-black-cauldron" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "judging others", "slug": "judging-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/judging-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lloyd_Alexander#Book_II:_The_Black_Cauldron_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:07" }, { "id": "83f28cf0-04f2-4da8-862c-b196ae3494b6", "slug": "i-wondered-again", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sarah-dessen/someone-like-you/i-wondered-again", "text": "I wondered again why the right thing always seemed to be met with so much resistance, when you'd think it would be the easier path. You had to fight to be virtuous...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sarah Dessen", "slug": "sarah-dessen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sarah-dessen" }, "book": { "title": "Someone Like You", "slug": "someone-like-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sarah-dessen/someone-like-you" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarah_Dessen#Someone_Like_You_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:50" }, { "id": "b7f42861-0613-489e-aa08-57d4a7f40f23", "slug": "virtues-are-often", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism/virtues-are-often", "text": "Virtues are often conquered by vices, but their rout is most complete when it is inflicted by other virtues, more militant, more efficient, or more congenial.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "R. H. Tawney", "slug": "r-h-tawney", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney" }, "book": { "title": "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism", "slug": "religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "flaws", "slug": "flaws", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/flaws" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._H._Tawney#Religion_and_the_Rise_of_Capitalism_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:49" }, { "id": "fc3bc919-c843-4a0c-b771-44382ca91298", "slug": "find-the-best", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/find-the-best", "text": "Find the best in everybody. … you might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Randy Pausch", "slug": "randy-pausch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch" }, "book": { "title": "The Last Lecture", "slug": "the-last-lecture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "patience", "slug": "patience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/patience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch#The_Last_Lecture_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:46" }, { "id": "129de58f-f6e0-4a8d-af06-9db81713f19f", "slug": "and-i-think", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/and-i-think", "text": "And I think that that’s one of the best things you can give somebody – the chance to show them what it feels like to make other people get excited and happy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Randy Pausch", "slug": "randy-pausch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch" }, "book": { "title": "The Last Lecture", "slug": "the-last-lecture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch#The_Last_Lecture_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:46" }, { "id": "09a6085c-5665-42f3-bbd7-8d92fa3640e4", "slug": "when-you-do-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/when-you-do-the", "text": "When you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Randy Pausch", "slug": "randy-pausch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch" }, "book": { "title": "The Last Lecture", "slug": "the-last-lecture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch#The_Last_Lecture_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:46" }, { "id": "ea0d209f-0235-44e8-ae46-3bbdc846efae", "slug": "the-last-story", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is/the-last-story", "text": "The last story: God is everything, God is good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Byron Katie", "slug": "byron-katie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie" }, "book": { "title": "Loving What Is", "slug": "loving-what-is", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Byron_Katie#Loving_What_Is:_Four_Questions_That_Can_Change_Your_Life_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:45" }, { "id": "e771caf0-0a25-4918-8d95-31ddf9faa5c2", "slug": "do-you-remember", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/the-road/do-you-remember", "text": "Do you remember that little boy, Papa?\n\nYes. I remember him.\n\nDo you think that he’s all right that little boy?\n\nOh yes. I think he’s all right.\n\nDo you think he was lost?\n\nNo. I don't think he was lost.\n\nI’m scared that he was lost.\n\nI think he’s all right.\n\nBut who will find him if he’s lost? Who will find the little boy?\n\nGoodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Cormac McCarthy", "slug": "cormac-mccarthy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy" }, "book": { "title": "The Road", "slug": "the-road", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/the-road" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "children", "slug": "children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:43" }, { "id": "841e7366-cd51-40f6-8952-3e619a07bbd8", "slug": "a-good-heart", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-bronte/wuthering-heights/a-good-heart", "text": "\"A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad\", I continued, \"if you were a regular black, and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emily Brontë", "slug": "emily-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "Wuthering Heights", "slug": "wuthering-heights", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emily-bronte/wuthering-heights" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "appearance", "slug": "appearance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:43" }, { "id": "742a7e4b-64fb-4949-94f6-7345f59df5ab", "slug": "he-was-beginning", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/the-road/he-was-beginning", "text": "He was beginning to think that death was finally upon them and that they should find some place to hide where they would not be found. There were times when he sat watching the boy sleep that he would begin to sob uncontrollably but it wasnt about death. He wasnt sure what it was about but he thought it was about beauty or about goodness. Things he’d no longer any way to think about at all.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Cormac McCarthy", "slug": "cormac-mccarthy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy" }, "book": { "title": "The Road", "slug": "the-road", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/the-road" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:42" }, { "id": "11b6fc2d-1caf-43df-a7dd-2be356530ba2", "slug": "i-should-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/the-road/i-should-have", "text": "I should have been more careful, he said.\n\nThe boy didn't answer.\n\nYou have to talk to me.\n\nOkay.\n\nYou wanted to know what the bad guys looked like. Now you know. It may happen again. My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you. Do you understand?\n\nYes.\n\nHe sat there cowled in the blanket. After a while he looked up. Are we still the good guys? he said.\n\nYes. We're still the good guys.\n\nAnd we always will be.\n\nYes. We always will be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Cormac McCarthy", "slug": "cormac-mccarthy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy" }, "book": { "title": "The Road", "slug": "the-road", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/the-road" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "father", "slug": "father", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/father" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:42" }, { "id": "4d59bc22-a844-427e-87bd-ca858039d660", "slug": "well-there-is-sorrow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man/well-there-is-sorrow", "text": "Well, there is sorrow in the world, but goodness too; and goodness that is not greenness, either, no more than sorrow is.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "The Confidence-Man", "slug": "the-confidence-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Confidence-Man#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:34" }, { "id": "41d27aa2-0b27-4ef7-949d-a7815c4c9734", "slug": "admit-as-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man/admit-as-you", "text": "Admit, as you must, that mankind is not mad, and my project is practicable. For, what creature but a madman would not rather do good than ill, when it is plain that, good or ill, it must return upon himself?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "The Confidence-Man", "slug": "the-confidence-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Confidence-Man#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:34" }, { "id": "ce994f6e-e99d-4c71-8528-0f4f1a39fed7", "slug": "why-is-it-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/why-is-it-that", "text": "Why is it that the stupidest people are always the most good-natured?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "Beware of Pity", "slug": "beware-of-pity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "stupidity", "slug": "stupidity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#Beware_of_Pity_(1939)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:29" }, { "id": "970cbe56-8c5b-4b29-84c0-f018902011a5", "slug": "was-it-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/was-it-not", "text": "Was it not the most wonderful thing on earth to be able to help one's fellow-creatures? I now knew that it was the only thing that was worth while.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "Beware of Pity", "slug": "beware-of-pity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "altruism", "slug": "altruism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/altruism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#Beware_of_Pity_(1939)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:29" }, { "id": "e02d32a1-f72a-4275-9acf-acb4eb75eee7", "slug": "it-takes-very", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men/it-takes-very", "text": "It takes very little to govern good people. Very little. And bad people cant be governed at all. Or if they could I never heard of it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Cormac McCarthy", "slug": "cormac-mccarthy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy" }, "book": { "title": "No Country for Old Men", "slug": "no-country-for-old-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:19" }, { "id": "c91c43da-2603-4d30-95eb-f4f0f1247f7d", "slug": "this-place-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer/the-host/this-place-was", "text": "This place was truly the highest and the lowest of all worlds — the most beautiful senses, the most exquisite emotions... the most malevolent desires, the darkest deeds. Perhaps it was meant to be so. Perhaps without the lows, the highs could not be reached.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephenie Meyer", "slug": "stephenie-meyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer" }, "book": { "title": "The Host", "slug": "the-host", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer/the-host" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 141, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "emotions", "slug": "emotions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emotions" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephenie_Meyer#The_Host_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:18" }, { "id": "dd3aca9b-ee7b-4bde-ab40-095908f03b4c", "slug": "carlisle-cullen-looking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer/breaking-dawn/carlisle-cullen-looking", "text": "Carlisle Cullen. Looking at him without that hate clouding my eyes, I couldn't deny that killing him was murder. He was good. Good as any human we protected. Maybe better. Too much better.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephenie Meyer", "slug": "stephenie-meyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer" }, "book": { "title": "Breaking Dawn", "slug": "breaking-dawn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer/breaking-dawn" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 205, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "prejudice", "slug": "prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prejudice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Breaking_Dawn#10._Why_Didn't_I_Just_Walk_Away%3F_Oh_Right,_Because_I'm_an_Idiot.", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:17" }, { "id": "f42a6ecb-7050-4cdb-be4c-e850c2554d51", "slug": "you-try-very", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer/new-moon/you-try-very", "text": "\"You try very hard to make up for something that was never your fault. [...] You didn't choose this kind of life, and yet you have to work so hard to be good.\"\n\n\"I don't know that I'm making up for anything,\" he disagreed lightly. \"Like everything in life, I just had to decide what to do with what I was given.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephenie Meyer", "slug": "stephenie-meyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer" }, "book": { "title": "New Moon", "slug": "new-moon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephenie-meyer/new-moon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 35, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "choices", "slug": "choices", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephenie_Meyer#New_Moon_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:16" }, { "id": "cf0d4780-6c4d-4893-b5e9-28f856d2e8fb", "slug": "what-you-cant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jo-walton/farthing/what-you-cant", "text": "What you can't pay back you pay forward.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jo Walton", "slug": "jo-walton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jo-walton" }, "book": { "title": "Farthing", "slug": "farthing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jo-walton/farthing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "gratitude", "slug": "gratitude", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jo_Walton#Farthing_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:15" }, { "id": "4e48c907-5b31-40e8-bb00-dd2f94741043", "slug": "a-drop-of-honey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dale-carnegie/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people/a-drop-of-honey", "text": "A drop of honey can catch more flies than a gallon of gall.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dale Carnegie", "slug": "dale-carnegie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dale-carnegie" }, "book": { "title": "How to Win Friends and Influence People", "slug": "how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dale-carnegie/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 143, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "persuasion", "slug": "persuasion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/persuasion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie#How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:09" }, { "id": "b0ad56a8-9681-40ab-8451-c9910acf158a", "slug": "you-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/oneness-with-all-life/you-do-not", "text": "You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge. If peace is really what you want, then choose peace. The moment that judgement stops through acceptance of what it is, you are free of the mind. You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "Oneness with All Life", "slug": "oneness-with-all-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/oneness-with-all-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "peace of mind", "slug": "peace-of-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace-of-mind" }, { "name": "acceptance", "slug": "acceptance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#Oneness_With_All_Life:_Inspirational_Selections_from_A_New_Earth_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:05" }, { "id": "3ec5f536-a5a9-45fd-8b20-11d916c4c85f", "slug": "trying-to-become", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/trying-to-become", "text": "Trying to become a good or better human being sounds like a commendable and highminded thing to do, yet it is an endeavor you cannot ultimately succeed in unless there is a shift in consciousness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "consciousness", "slug": "consciousness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consciousness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_New_Earth#Chapter_1,_The_Flowering_of_Human_Consciousness", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:02" }, { "id": "139914bb-5793-49af-a0df-a45ec5d43405", "slug": "you-do-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/you-do-not", "text": "You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eckhart Tolle", "slug": "eckhart-tolle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle" }, "book": { "title": "A New Earth", "slug": "a-new-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle#A_New_Earth_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:01" }, { "id": "2c469d7f-3b5c-4f43-b368-d622bc8622bf", "slug": "but-in-all", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miles-franklin/my-brilliant-career/but-in-all", "text": "But in all the wide world there was not a soul to hold out a hand to me, and I said bitterly, \"There is no good in the world.\" In softer moods I said, \"Ah, the tangle of it! Those who have the heart to help have not the power, and those who have the power have not the heart.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Miles Franklin", "slug": "miles-franklin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miles-franklin" }, "book": { "title": "My Brilliant Career", "slug": "my-brilliant-career", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miles-franklin/my-brilliant-career" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miles_Franklin#My_Brilliant_Career_(1901)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:53" }, { "id": "1b4378c6-bfa1-4a66-bd4d-afec509dfb25", "slug": "no-generous-mind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall/no-generous-mind", "text": "No generous mind delights to oppress the weak, but rather to cherish and protect.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Brontë", "slug": "anne-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "slug": "the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "strength", "slug": "strength", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/strength" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB#The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall_(1848)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:28" }, { "id": "2e9bfedb-c221-4953-b96f-0fd08d6edc3d", "slug": "o-what-a-godlike", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-richardson/pamela/o-what-a-godlike", "text": "O! what a Godlike Power is that of doing Good! — I envy the Rich and the Great for nothing else!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel Richardson", "slug": "samuel-richardson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-richardson" }, "book": { "title": "Pamela", "slug": "pamela", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-richardson/pamela" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 312, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Richardson#Pamela_(1740)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:26" }, { "id": "1a53afc6-18a1-4501-a8e3-ece8a5701b36", "slug": "we-all-strive", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts/shantaram/we-all-strive", "text": "“We all strive to do one good thing to balance all the wrong that we have done in the past”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory David Roberts", "slug": "gregory-david-roberts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts" }, "book": { "title": "Shantaram", "slug": "shantaram", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts/shantaram" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "guilt", "slug": "guilt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/guilt" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shantaram#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:21" }, { "id": "1c9e4de8-e957-4dd3-9741-383e263769f3", "slug": "the-truth-is-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts/shantaram/the-truth-is-that", "text": "The truth is that there are no good men, or bad men,' he said, 'It is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them. There are good deeds and there are bad deeds. Men are just men —it is what they do, or refuse to do, that links them to good or evil. The truth is that an instant of real love, in the heart of anyone —the noblest of man alive or the most wicked— has the whole purpose and process and meaning of life within the lotus-folds of its passion. The truth is that we are all, every one of us, every atom, every galaxy, and every particle of matter in the universe, moving toward God.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory David Roberts", "slug": "gregory-david-roberts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts" }, "book": { "title": "Shantaram", "slug": "shantaram", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts/shantaram" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shantaram#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:20" }, { "id": "298a6cdc-84bb-47a1-b3b7-f85d600e45a3", "slug": "its-easy-to-be-emotional", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close/its-easy-to-be-emotional", "text": "\"It's easy to be emotional. You can always make a scene... Highs and lows make you feel that things matter, but they're nothing.\" \"So what's something?\" \"Being reliable is something. Being good.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "slug": "jonathan-safran-foer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer" }, "book": { "title": "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", "slug": "extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-safran-foer/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 297, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "emotions", "slug": "emotions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emotions" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Safran_Foer#Extremely_Loud_and_Incredibly_Close_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:10" }, { "id": "49073407-57c4-43c5-932d-ee760b05797b", "slug": "scroooge-was-better", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/scroooge-was-better", "text": "Scroooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let then laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, the thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grims, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "change", "slug": "change", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "laughter", "slug": "laughter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/laughter" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_5:_The_End_of_It", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:45" }, { "id": "19ae170a-8e56-45bf-bf78-06e0d5e1a5b6", "slug": "i-am-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/i-am-in-the", "text": "\"I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come?\" said Scrooge.\n\nThe Spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its hand.\n\n\"You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us,\" Scrooge pursued. \"Is that so, Spirit?\"\n\nThe upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head. That was the only answer he received. Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion! But of the loved, revered, and honoured head, thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released; it is not that the heart and pulse are still; but that the hand was open, generous, and true; the heart brave, warm, and tender; and the pulse a man’s. Strike, Shadow, strike! And see his good deeds springing from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_4:_The_Last_of_the_Spirits", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:45" }, { "id": "add7fb88-20ee-491d-a8e8-d188a848263c", "slug": "if-i-could", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/if-i-could", "text": "\"If I could work my will,\" said Scrooge indignantly, \"Every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!\"\n\n\"Uncle!\" pleaded the nephew.\n\n\"Nephew!\" returned the uncle, sternly, \"keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.\"\n\n\"Keep it!\" repeated Scrooge's nephew. \"But you don't keep it.\"\n\n\"Let me leave it alone, then,\" said Scrooge. \"Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!\"\n\n\"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,\" returned the nephew: \"Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_1:_Marley's_Ghost", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:44" }, { "id": "938e7ca4-176f-4ba6-9bbf-db70eaf9d764", "slug": "business-cried-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/business-cried-the", "text": "\"Business!\" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. \"Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "mercy", "slug": "mercy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mercy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_1:_Marley's_Ghost", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:44" }, { "id": "ee5eaaca-9c31-40f7-97f9-72c340ce551b", "slug": "i-remember-he-meant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass/i-remember-he-meant", "text": "\"I remember. He meant the Kingdom was over, the Kingdom of Heaven, it was all finished. We shouldn’t live as if it mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place.\"\n\n\"He said we had to build something…\"\n\n\"That’s why we needed our full life, Pan... we wouldn’t have been able to build it. No one could if they put themselves first. We have to be all those difficult things like cheerful and kind and curious and patient, and we’ve got to study and think and work hard, all of us, in all our different worlds, and then we’ll build…\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "the present", "slug": "the-present", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "83d23cb4-343f-42f9-946d-1ed54b8ee107", "slug": "when-you-stopped", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass/when-you-stopped", "text": "\"When you stopped believing in God, did you stop believing in good and evil?\"\n\n\"No. But I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. All we can say is that this is a good deed, because it helps someone, or that's an evil one, because it hurts them. People are too complicated to have simple labels.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "7e63c999-bc0f-4ab4-a544-3552d4ccd4c3", "slug": "the-bad-guys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/transition/the-bad-guys", "text": "The bad guys tend to enjoy killing people, preferably in large numbers. The good guys – and girls – don’t; they get a buzz when infant mortality rates go down and life expectancy goes up. The bad guys like to tell people what to do, the good guys are happy to encourage people to make up their own minds. The bad guys like to keep the riches and the power to themselves and their cronies, the good guys want the money and power spread evenly, subject to the making-up-your-own-minds thing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Iain M. Banks", "slug": "iain-m-banks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks" }, "book": { "title": "Transition", "slug": "transition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/transition" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 322, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#Transition_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:23" }, { "id": "06097bf6-b564-426d-87e2-b17cb3117b8c", "slug": "refusing-to-do-a-finite", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/transition/refusing-to-do-a-finite", "text": "Refusing to do a finite amount of good because you cannot do an infinite amount of good is a morally perverse position.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Iain M. Banks", "slug": "iain-m-banks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks" }, "book": { "title": "Transition", "slug": "transition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/transition" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 323, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#Transition_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:23" }, { "id": "befd5ef9-7d60-4a18-9bfb-24bac9c95710", "slug": "holy-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/the-art-of-blessing-the-day/holy-is-the", "text": "Holy is the hand that works for peace and for justice,\n\nholy is the mouth that speaks for goodness,\n\nholy is the foot that walks toward mercy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marge Piercy", "slug": "marge-piercy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy" }, "book": { "title": "The Art of Blessing the Day", "slug": "the-art-of-blessing-the-day", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/the-art-of-blessing-the-day" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "peace", "slug": "peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marge_Piercy#The_Art_of_Blessing_the_Day:_Poems_with_a_Jewish_Theme_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:10" }, { "id": "751fabb8-45af-41e2-bccb-86bd745a589c", "slug": "the-world-seems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bram-stoker/dracula/the-world-seems", "text": "The world seems full of good men—even if there are monsters in it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Bram Stoker", "slug": "bram-stoker", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bram-stoker" }, "book": { "title": "Dracula", "slug": "dracula", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bram-stoker/dracula" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dracula_(novel)#Chapter_XVII", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:03" }, { "id": "d38d142e-313a-4bb1-94c0-31862e59b148", "slug": "if-there-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/villette/if-there-are", "text": "If there are words and wrongs like knives, whose deep inflicted lacerations never heal - cutting injuries and insults of serrated and poison-dripping edge - so, too, there are consolations of tone too fine for the ear not fondly and for ever to retain their echo: caressing kindnesses - loved, lingered over through a whole life, recalled with unfaded tenderness, and answering the call with undimmed shine, out of that raven cloud foreshadowing Death himself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charlotte Brontë", "slug": "charlotte-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "Villette", "slug": "villette", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/villette" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB#Villette_(1853)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:42" }, { "id": "bd3bb360-68b8-48e6-8e87-d75d33ac375f", "slug": "by-grace-i-understand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-tyndale/the-obedience-of-a-christian-man/by-grace-i-understand", "text": "By grace I understand the favor of God, and also the gifts and working of his Spirit in us; as love, kindness, patience, obedience, mercifulness, despising of worldly things, peace, concord, and such like. If after thou hast heard so many masses, matins, and evensongs, and after thou hast received holy bread, holy water, and the bishop’s blessing, or a cardinal’s or the pope’s, if thou wilt be more kind to thy neighbor, and love him better than before; if thou be more obedient unto thy superiors; more merciful, more ready to forgive wrong; done unto thee, more despisest the world, and more athirst after spiritual things; if after that a priest hath taken orders he be less covetous than before; if a wife, after so many and oft pilgrimages, be more chaste, more obedient unto her husband, more kind to her maids and other servants; if gentlemen, knights, lords, and kings and emperors, after they have said so often daily service with their chaplains, know more of Christ than before, and can better skill to rule their tenants, subjects, and realms christianly than before, and be content with their duties; then do such things increase grace. If not, it is a lie. Whether it be so or no, I report me to experience. If they have any other interpretations of justifying or grace, I pray them to teach it me; for I would gladly learn it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Tyndale", "slug": "william-tyndale", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-tyndale" }, "book": { "title": "The Obedience of a Christian Man", "slug": "the-obedience-of-a-christian-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-tyndale/the-obedience-of-a-christian-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Tyndale#The_Obedience_of_A_Christian_Man_(1528)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:19" }, { "id": "42520792-ea63-4272-b763-4fe83031daef", "slug": "true-virtue-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/josemaria-escriva/the-way/true-virtue-is-not", "text": "True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Josemaría Escrivá", "slug": "josemaria-escriva", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/josemaria-escriva" }, "book": { "title": "The Way", "slug": "the-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/josemaria-escriva/the-way" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Josemar%C3%ADa_Escriv%C3%A1#The_Way_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:08" }, { "id": "3e8ae16d-017e-45a1-b1d6-378d49a701f3", "slug": "for-evil-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/yann-martel/life-of-pi/for-evil-in-the", "text": "For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Yann Martel", "slug": "yann-martel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/yann-martel" }, "book": { "title": "Life Of Pi", "slug": "life-of-pi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/yann-martel/life-of-pi" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 78, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yann_Martel#Life_of_Pi_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:03" }, { "id": "057bf787-151c-426f-ab8c-d0411a31562f", "slug": "it-is-then", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois/the-souls-of-black-folk/it-is-then", "text": "It is, then, the strife of all honorable men and women of the twentieth century to see that in the future competition of the races the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of the good, the beautiful, and the true; that we may be able to preserve for future civilization all that is really fine and noble and strong, and not continue to put a premium on greed and imprudence and cruelty.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "W.E.B. Dubois", "slug": "web-dubois", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois" }, "book": { "title": "The Souls of Black Folk", "slug": "the-souls-of-black-folk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois/the-souls-of-black-folk" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "civilization", "slug": "civilization", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/civilization" }, { "name": "racism", "slug": "racism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/racism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois#The_Souls_of_Black_Folk_(1903)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:02" }, { "id": "e017b06a-18f0-4dee-a4ab-8987625799cf", "slug": "something-wrong-sir", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/american-empire-blood-and-iron/something-wrong-sir", "text": "“Something wrong, sir?” Lieutenant Jenkins asked.\n\n“No good deed goes unpunished,” Morrell answered.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "American Empire: Blood and Iron", "slug": "american-empire-blood-and-iron", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/american-empire-blood-and-iron" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 460, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#American_Empire:_Blood_and_Iron_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:50" }, { "id": "8cea8f9a-fd2b-4af6-86e6-c9ca025befce", "slug": "perhaps-it-is-impossible", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harriet-beecher-stowe/uncle-toms-cabin/perhaps-it-is-impossible", "text": "Perhaps it is impossible for a person who does no good not to do harm.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harriet Beecher-Stowe", "slug": "harriet-beecher-stowe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harriet-beecher-stowe" }, "book": { "title": "Uncle Tom's Cabin", "slug": "uncle-toms-cabin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harriet-beecher-stowe/uncle-toms-cabin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe#Uncle_Tom's_Cabin_(1852)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:44" }, { "id": "43af86ef-5252-4575-9f39-67ec6ab1cb8b", "slug": "any-mind-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harriet-beecher-stowe/uncle-toms-cabin/any-mind-that", "text": "Any mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harriet Beecher-Stowe", "slug": "harriet-beecher-stowe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harriet-beecher-stowe" }, "book": { "title": "Uncle Tom's Cabin", "slug": "uncle-toms-cabin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harriet-beecher-stowe/uncle-toms-cabin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe#Uncle_Tom's_Cabin_(1852)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:44" }, { "id": "bc7a0194-7b44-48f8-9502-c586532a97b7", "slug": "and-if-its", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/our-mutual-friend/and-if-its", "text": "\"And if it's proud to have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts,\" Miss Jenny struck in, flushed, \"she is proud.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Our Mutual Friend", "slug": "our-mutual-friend", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/our-mutual-friend" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens#Our_Mutual_Friend_(1864-1865)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:43" }, { "id": "520b8fd4-48a1-41fa-b842-443e998ad79c", "slug": "no-one-is-useless", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/our-mutual-friend/no-one-is-useless", "text": "'No one is useless in this world,' retorted the Secretary, 'who lightens the burden of it for any one else.'", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Our Mutual Friend", "slug": "our-mutual-friend", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/our-mutual-friend" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "helping others", "slug": "helping-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens#Our_Mutual_Friend_(1864-1865)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:43" }, { "id": "97e27393-8047-486e-8360-b8520239b6e0", "slug": "grief-never-mended", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/sketches-by-boz/grief-never-mended", "text": "Grief never mended no broken bones, and as good people’s wery scarce, what I says is, make the most on ’em.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Sketches by Boz", "slug": "sketches-by-boz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/sketches-by-boz" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens#Sketches_by_Boz_(1836-1837)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:40" }, { "id": "b6b5b1bb-2838-4d2c-aab6-bfc4bdda790b", "slug": "theres-a-lot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/raising-the-stones/theres-a-lot", "text": "“There’s a lot of fathering in those legends,” Sal commented, disapprovingly. “A lot of fathering, a lot of kinging, a lot of death and violence, and very little uncleing and ordinary kindly living.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Raising The Stones", "slug": "raising-the-stones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/raising-the-stones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 53, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "violence", "slug": "violence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence" }, { "name": "mythology", "slug": "mythology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mythology" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Raising_the_Stones_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:22" }, { "id": "a8e3681b-5307-4076-bbdf-a914ccf2c83e", "slug": "too-good-is-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/grass/too-good-is-good", "text": "Too good is good for nothing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Grass", "slug": "grass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/grass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 355, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "paradox", "slug": "paradox", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/paradox" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Grass_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:21" }, { "id": "8bff8079-6379-4874-9693-05053146234d", "slug": "what-kind-of-a-universe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/marianne-the-madame-and-the-momentary-gods/what-kind-of-a-universe", "text": "What kind of a universe would it be if we could not do small kindnesses for one another?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods", "slug": "marianne-the-madame-and-the-momentary-gods", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/marianne-the-madame-and-the-momentary-gods" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 123, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Marianne,_the_Madame,_and_the_Momentary_Gods_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:20" }, { "id": "504eced4-aeb1-4d40-819b-190a67153de4", "slug": "it-is-hard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-song-of-mavin-manyshaped/it-is-hard", "text": "“It is hard to do good,” the voice whispered.\n\n“Nonsense,” she muttered. “You only have to do it.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "The Song of Mavin Manyshaped", "slug": "the-song-of-mavin-manyshaped", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-song-of-mavin-manyshaped" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 159, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "taking action", "slug": "taking-action", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/taking-action" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#The_Song_of_Mavin_Manyshaped_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:18" }, { "id": "64fd7a5f-5996-445a-b371-0a8e039a9422", "slug": "at-the-bottom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil/simone-weil-an-anthology/at-the-bottom", "text": "At the bottom of the heart of every human being, from earliest infancy until the tomb, there is something that goes on indomitably expecting, in the teeth of all experience of crimes committed, suffered, and witnessed, that good and not evil will be done to him. It is this above all that is sacred in every human being.\n\nThe good is the only source of the sacred. There is nothing sacred except the good and what pertains to it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Simone Weil", "slug": "simone-weil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil" }, "book": { "title": "Simone Weil: An Anthology", "slug": "simone-weil-an-anthology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/simone-weil/simone-weil-an-anthology" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 51, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "hope", "slug": "hope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "holiness", "slug": "holiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/holiness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil#Human_Personality_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:13" }, { "id": "29755198-7af5-4f2a-99cc-9f8dd53834f9", "slug": "go-poor-devil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laurence-sterne/the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman/go-poor-devil", "text": "Go poor Devil, get thee gone, why should I hurt thee? — This world surely is wide enough to hold both thee and me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Laurence Sterne", "slug": "laurence-sterne", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laurence-sterne" }, "book": { "title": "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman", "slug": "the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laurence-sterne/the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "animals", "slug": "animals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Laurence_Sterne#The_Life_and_Opinions_of_Tristram_Shandy,_Gentleman_(1760-1767)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:07" }, { "id": "3cc96398-f52e-4090-8cd7-b997b9691d15", "slug": "good-guys-is-just", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-holt/paint-your-dragon/good-guys-is-just", "text": "Good guys is just a fancy way of saying Us. Bad guys is only ever Them.' -", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tom Holt", "slug": "tom-holt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-holt" }, "book": { "title": "Paint Your Dragon", "slug": "paint-your-dragon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-holt/paint-your-dragon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "point of view", "slug": "point-of-view", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/point-of-view" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Holt#Paint_Your_Dragon_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:56" }, { "id": "aa13c015-3735-483d-9ab8-02102f3f5a9a", "slug": "the-devil-doesnt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/fierce-invalids-home-from-hot-climates/the-devil-doesnt", "text": "\"The Devil doesn't make us do anything. The Devil, for example, doesn't make us mean. Rather, when we're mean, we make the Devil. Literally. Our actions create him. Conversely, when we behave with compassion, generosity, and grace, we create God in the world.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tom Robbins", "slug": "tom-robbins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins" }, "book": { "title": "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates", "slug": "fierce-invalids-home-from-hot-climates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/fierce-invalids-home-from-hot-climates" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins#Fierce_Invalids_Home_from_Hot_Climates_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:39" }, { "id": "aaab13bd-bf3b-4278-b4b1-c90f5b91b948", "slug": "all-evils-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe/robinson-crusoe/all-evils-are", "text": "All evils are to be considered with the good that is in them, and with what worse attends them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel Defoe", "slug": "daniel-defoe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe" }, "book": { "title": "Robinson Crusoe", "slug": "robinson-crusoe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe/robinson-crusoe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Defoe#Robinson_Crusoe_(1719)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:31" }, { "id": "aeb5cd60-9668-4a61-8faf-a3229dddce3b", "slug": "a-passionate-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-kempis/the-imitation-of-christ/a-passionate-man", "text": "A passionate man turneth even good into evil and easily believeth evil; a good, peaceable man converteth all things into good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Kempis", "slug": "thomas-kempis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-kempis" }, "book": { "title": "The Imitation of Christ", "slug": "the-imitation-of-christ", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-kempis/the-imitation-of-christ" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "passion", "slug": "passion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/passion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_%C3%A0_Kempis#The_Imitation_of_Christ_(c._1418)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:27" }, { "id": "59ae8ca6-ad98-4551-a4cd-352da070b16d", "slug": "the-source-of-totalitarianism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/slavoj-zizek/the-sublime-object-of-ideology/the-source-of-totalitarianism", "text": "The source of totalitarianism is a dogmatic attachment to the official word: the lack of laughter, of ironic detachment. An excessive commitment to Good may in itself become the greatest Evil: real Evil is any kind of fanatical dogmatism, especially exerted in the name of supreme Good... Consider only Mozart's Don Giovanni at the end of the opera, when he is confronted with the following choice: if he confesses his sins, he can still achieve salvation; if he persists, he will be damned forever. From this viewpoint of the pleasure principle, the proper thing to do would be to renounce his past, but he does not, he persists in his Evil, although he knows that by persisting he will be damned forever. Paradoxically, with his final choice of Evil, he acquires the status of an ethical hero - that is, of someone who is guided by fundamental principles beyond the pleasure principle and not just by the search for pleasure or material gain.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Slavoj Žižek", "slug": "slavoj-zizek", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/slavoj-zizek" }, "book": { "title": "The Sublime Object of Ideology", "slug": "the-sublime-object-of-ideology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/slavoj-zizek/the-sublime-object-of-ideology" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "fanaticism", "slug": "fanaticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fanaticism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek#The_Sublime_Object_of_Ideology_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:17" }, { "id": "ffd4ad60-5240-4e37-8b53-86a85f40647d", "slug": "but-theres-no-indemnity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nadine-gordimer/burgers-daughter/but-theres-no-indemnity", "text": "But there's no indemnity. You can't be afraid to do good in case evil results.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nadine Gordimer", "slug": "nadine-gordimer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nadine-gordimer" }, "book": { "title": "Burger's Daughter", "slug": "burgers-daughter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nadine-gordimer/burgers-daughter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 296, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "courage", "slug": "courage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/courage" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nadine_Gordimer#Burger's_Daughter_(1979)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:10" }, { "id": "8ca05469-6042-4352-91d5-2474bb4613f7", "slug": "good-and-bad", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/witches-abroad/good-and-bad", "text": "\"Good and bad is tricky,\" she said. \"I ain't too certain about where people stand. P'raps what matters is which way you face.\" (pp. 348-349)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Witches Abroad", "slug": "witches-abroad", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/witches-abroad" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Witches_Abroad#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:58" }, { "id": "44df5674-f222-4883-ae68-c3d495105909", "slug": "i-believe-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/guards-guards/i-believe-you", "text": "\"I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people,\" said the man [Vetinari]. \"You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.\" (p. 337)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Guards! Guards!", "slug": "guards-guards", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/guards-guards" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Guards!_Guards!#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:56" }, { "id": "acc8de57-37ef-4b9a-872e-f72a36396a04", "slug": "for-he-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-scott/ivanhoe/for-he-that", "text": "For he that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Walter Scott", "slug": "walter-scott", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-scott" }, "book": { "title": "Ivanhoe", "slug": "ivanhoe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-scott/ivanhoe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Scott#Ivanhoe_(1819)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:49" }, { "id": "b4116d3b-d51f-437e-a71d-f79039f7bdbf", "slug": "experience-had-taught", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilynne-robinson/home/experience-had-taught", "text": "Experience had taught them that truth had sharp edges and hard corners, and could be seriously at odds with kindness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marilynne Robinson", "slug": "marilynne-robinson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilynne-robinson" }, "book": { "title": "Home", "slug": "home", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilynne-robinson/home" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilynne_Robinson#Home_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:42" }, { "id": "b5b794c1-5d35-4e90-89c4-35d6ba3dc034", "slug": "if-there-is-a-verity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray/the-history-of-henry-esmond/if-there-is-a-verity", "text": "If there is a verity in wine, according to the old adage, what an amiable-natured character Dick's must have been! In proportion as he took in wine he overflowed with kindness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Makepeace Thackeray", "slug": "william-makepeace-thackeray", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray" }, "book": { "title": "The History of Henry Esmond", "slug": "the-history-of-henry-esmond", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray/the-history-of-henry-esmond" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "alcohol", "slug": "alcohol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/alcohol" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Makepeace_Thackeray#The_History_of_Henry_Esmond_(1852)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:28" }, { "id": "219daab4-587e-4bf9-b7c6-e51f19998bc7", "slug": "cruel-she-asked", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle/the-last-unicorn/cruel-she-asked", "text": "\"Cruel?\" she asked. \"How can I be cruel? That is for mortals.\" But then she did raise her eyes, and they were great with sorrow, and with something very near to mockery. She said, \"So is kindness.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter S. Beagle", "slug": "peter-s-beagle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle" }, "book": { "title": "The Last Unicorn", "slug": "the-last-unicorn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle/the-last-unicorn" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "cruelty", "slug": "cruelty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cruelty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:28" }, { "id": "367626f3-1d72-4c09-8762-6ae36206e336", "slug": "you-may-of-course", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/viktor-frankl/mans-search-for-meaning/you-may-of-course", "text": "You may of course ask whether we really need to refer to \"saints.\" Wouldn't it suffice just to refer to decent people? It is true that they form a minority. More than that, they always will remain a minority. And yet I see therein the very challenge to join the minority. For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.\n\nSo, let us be alert — alert in a twofold sense:\n\nSince Auschwitz we know what man is capable of.\n\nAnd since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Viktor Frankl", "slug": "viktor-frankl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/viktor-frankl" }, "book": { "title": "Man's Search for Meaning", "slug": "mans-search-for-meaning", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/viktor-frankl/mans-search-for-meaning" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "Holocaust", "slug": "holocaust", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/holocaust" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Man's_Search_for_Meaning#Postscript_1984_:_The_Case_for_a_Tragic_Optimism", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:57" }, { "id": "934504db-cd5e-498a-be3a-96303a604d19", "slug": "every-person-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe/the-citadel-of-the-autarch/every-person-you", "text": "Every person, you see, is like a plant. There is a beautiful green part, often with flowers or fruit, that grows upward toward the sun, toward the Increate. There is also a dark part that grows away from it, tunneling where no light comes. [...] Was I speaking of good and evil? It is the roots that give the plant the strength to climb toward the sun, though they know nothing of it. [...] The things we love in others and admire in ourselves spring from things we do not see and seldom think about.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gene Wolfe", "slug": "gene-wolfe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe" }, "book": { "title": "The Citadel of the Autarch", "slug": "the-citadel-of-the-autarch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe/the-citadel-of-the-autarch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun#The_Citadel_of_the_Autarch_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:24" }, { "id": "57fba534-8778-45d9-a7ef-3965bbb6ef95", "slug": "the-world-is-filled", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe/the-shadow-of-the-torturer/the-world-is-filled", "text": "“The world is filled half with evil and half with good. We can tilt it forward so that more good runs into our minds, or back, so that more runs into this.” A movement of her eyes took in all the lake. “But the quantities are the same, we change only their proportion here or there.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gene Wolfe", "slug": "gene-wolfe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe" }, "book": { "title": "The Shadow of the Torturer", "slug": "the-shadow-of-the-torturer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe/the-shadow-of-the-torturer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun#The_Shadow_of_the_Torturer_(1980)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:23" }, { "id": "83508fae-d5d3-4456-96f1-b7e2cb103643", "slug": "people-who-cease", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice/interview-with-the-vampire/people-who-cease", "text": "People who cease to believe in God or goodness altogether still believe in the devil. I don't know why. No, I do indeed know why. Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Rice", "slug": "anne-rice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice" }, "book": { "title": "Interview with the Vampire", "slug": "interview-with-the-vampire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice/interview-with-the-vampire" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Rice#Interview_With_The_Vampire_(1976)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:11" }, { "id": "1140c54f-fd56-45d5-b5d2-c41a34518445", "slug": "good-what-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice/interview-with-the-vampire/good-what-are", "text": "\"Good? What are you talking about, 'Good'?\"\n\n\"That it's good, that it does some good, that there is good in it! Dear God, even if there is no meaning in this world, surely there can still be goodness! It's good to eat, to drink, to laugh, to be together!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Rice", "slug": "anne-rice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice" }, "book": { "title": "Interview with the Vampire", "slug": "interview-with-the-vampire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice/interview-with-the-vampire" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Rice#Interview_With_The_Vampire_(1976)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:11" }, { "id": "dc1d0c29-5502-4a14-a673-0b47f62867be", "slug": "y-ou-have-to-make", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-penn-warren/all-the-kings-men/y-ou-have-to-make", "text": "[Y]ou have to make the good out of the bad because that is all you have to make it out of.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Penn Warren", "slug": "robert-penn-warren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-penn-warren" }, "book": { "title": "All the King's Men", "slug": "all-the-kings-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-penn-warren/all-the-kings-men" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/All_the_King's_Men#Chapter_6", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:58" }, { "id": "d9de91da-af13-4485-9ef7-4b51fd9d53d1", "slug": "i-recall-an-old", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-fulghum/all-i-really-need-to-know-i-learned-in-kindergarten/i-recall-an-old", "text": "I recall an old Sufi story of a good man who was granted one wish by God. The man said he would like to go about doing good without knowing about it. God granted his wish. And then God decided that it was such a good idea, he would grant that wish to all human beings.\n\nAnd so it has been to this day.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Fulghum", "slug": "robert-fulghum", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-fulghum" }, "book": { "title": "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten", "slug": "all-i-really-need-to-know-i-learned-in-kindergarten", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-fulghum/all-i-really-need-to-know-i-learned-in-kindergarten" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghum#All_I_Really_Need_to_Know_I_Learned_in_Kindergarten_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:37" }, { "id": "f49370a9-5d4e-4844-bd62-954c66c88138", "slug": "too-often-we-underestimate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leo-f-buscaglia/love/too-often-we-underestimate", "text": "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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Leo F. Buscaglia", "slug": "leo-f-buscaglia", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leo-f-buscaglia" }, "book": { "title": "Love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leo-f-buscaglia/love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Buscaglia#LOVE_(1972)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:36" }, { "id": "613542e3-0bf8-4c4a-9c93-efca038b4592", "slug": "an-they-chased", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee/to-kill-a-mockingbird/an-they-chased", "text": "\"An' they chased him 'n' never could catch him 'cause they didn't know what he looked like, an' Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus, he was real nice...\"\n\n\"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harper Lee", "slug": "harper-lee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee" }, "book": { "title": "To Kill a Mockingbird", "slug": "to-kill-a-mockingbird", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee/to-kill-a-mockingbird" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harper_Lee#To_Kill_a_Mockingbird_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:35" }, { "id": "70f51ba6-1506-4695-bf22-7654538b5ebd", "slug": "we-should-become", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paracelsus/paracelsus/we-should-become", "text": "We should become angels and not devils, that’s why we have been created and born into the world. Therefore be and stick to what God has chosen you for.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paracelsus", "slug": "paracelsus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paracelsus" }, "book": { "title": "Paracelsus", "slug": "paracelsus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paracelsus/paracelsus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paracelsus#Paracelsus_-_Doctor_of_our_Time_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:07" }, { "id": "df1e4bfa-93f8-41ce-9ffc-74579c28bf44", "slug": "kindness-and-a-caring", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/hard-boiled-wonderland-and-the-end-of-the-world/kindness-and-a-caring", "text": "Kindness and a caring mind are two separate qualities. Kindness is manners. It is superficial custom, an acquired practice. Not so the mind. The mind is deeper, stronger, and, I believe, it is far more inconstant.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Haruki Murakami", "slug": "haruki-murakami", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami" }, "book": { "title": "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World", "slug": "hard-boiled-wonderland-and-the-end-of-the-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/hard-boiled-wonderland-and-the-end-of-the-world" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakami#Hard-Boiled_Wonderland_and_the_End_of_the_World_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:01" }, { "id": "a07d0c15-c7c8-4d4b-b374-3d6b9b75bbd8", "slug": "you-have-to-help", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-lathe-of-heaven/you-have-to-help", "text": "You have to help another person. But it’s not right to play God with masses of people. To be God you have to know what you’re doing. And to do any good at all, just believing you're right and your motives are good isn’t enough. You have to...be in touch. He isn’t in touch. No one else, no thing even, has an existence of its own for him; he sees the world only as a means to his end. It doesn’t make any difference if his end is good; means are all we’ve got.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "The Lathe of Heaven", "slug": "the-lathe-of-heaven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-lathe-of-heaven" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#The_Lathe_of_Heaven_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:59" }, { "id": "fbb663a1-8a19-455b-bcd3-11f063dab2d1", "slug": "he-never-spoke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-lathe-of-heaven/he-never-spoke", "text": "He never spoke with any bitterness at all, no matter how awful the things he said. Are there really people without resentment, without hate, she wondered. People who never go cross-grained to the universe? Who recognize evil, and resist evil, and yet are utterly unaffected by it?\n\nOf course there are. Countless, the living and the dead. Those who have returned in pure compassion to the wheel, those who follow the way that cannot be followed without knowing they follow it, the sharecroppers’s wife in Alabama and the lama in Tibet and the entomologist in Peru and the millworker in Odessa and the greengrocer in London and the goatherd in Nigeria and the old, old man sharpening a stick by a dry streambed somewhere in Australia, and all the others. There is not one of us who has not known them. There are enough of them, enough to keep us going. Perhaps.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "The Lathe of Heaven", "slug": "the-lathe-of-heaven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-lathe-of-heaven" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#The_Lathe_of_Heaven_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:58" }, { "id": "a4e8e45c-2303-4373-bd5d-854af3e9171d", "slug": "the-danger-in-trying", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/tales-from-earthsea/the-danger-in-trying", "text": "The danger in trying to do good is that the mind comes to confuse the intent of goodness with the act of doing things well.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "Tales from Earthsea", "slug": "tales-from-earthsea", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/tales-from-earthsea" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 85, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#Tales_from_Earthsea_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:58" }, { "id": "3cdfda2c-be5d-4ceb-a41d-0aa6a0905272", "slug": "if-youre-in-trouble", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/if-youre-in-trouble", "text": "If you're in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help—the only ones.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Grapes of Wrath", "slug": "the-grapes-of-wrath", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 376, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:59" }, { "id": "0c9dc5d4-577a-4643-8cc4-7a1db523980b", "slug": "remember-that-i-am-thy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein/remember-that-i-am-thy", "text": "Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good – misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Shelley", "slug": "mary-shelley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley" }, "book": { "title": "Frankenstein", "slug": "frankenstein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:46" }, { "id": "f1092388-d246-4729-bc2b-14774404b327", "slug": "there-is-a-sum", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/the-marquis-de-sade/justine/there-is-a-sum", "text": "...there is a sum of evil equal to the sum of good, the continuing equilibrium of the world requires that there be as many good people as wicked people...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "The Marquis de Sade", "slug": "the-marquis-de-sade", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/the-marquis-de-sade" }, "book": { "title": "Justine", "slug": "justine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/the-marquis-de-sade/justine" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade#Justine_or_The_Misfortunes_of_Virtue_(1787)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:43" }, { "id": "f7f0af2e-7b7d-4d3d-9976-fd317bbf289f", "slug": "kind-hearted-people-might", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war/kind-hearted-people-might", "text": "Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat the enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds, it is a fallacy that must be exposed: War is such a dangerous business that mistakes that come from kindness are the very worst.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Carl von Clausewitz", "slug": "carl-von-clausewitz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz" }, "book": { "title": "On War", "slug": "on-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz#3._Utmost_use_of_force", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:37" }, { "id": "620f0b36-8e66-41cd-a3d7-fadcd915cb10", "slug": "wisdom-we-know", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-cheever/the-journals-of-john-cheever/wisdom-we-know", "text": "Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil not the strength to choose between the two.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Cheever", "slug": "john-cheever", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-cheever" }, "book": { "title": "The Journals of John Cheever", "slug": "the-journals-of-john-cheever", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-cheever/the-journals-of-john-cheever" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "wisdom", "slug": "wisdom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wisdom" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Cheever#The_Journals_of_John_Cheever_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:16" }, { "id": "5982d77d-5ca6-4d2d-8252-bd50a1b4ff8b", "slug": "does-god-want", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-burgess/a-clockwork-orange/does-god-want", "text": "\"Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anthony Burgess", "slug": "anthony-burgess", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-burgess" }, "book": { "title": "A Clockwork Orange", "slug": "a-clockwork-orange", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-burgess/a-clockwork-orange" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "choices", "slug": "choices", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange#Prison_Chaplain", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:15" }, { "id": "fd860631-51cb-44f9-9d5d-a1166db669ea", "slug": "we-are-afraid", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/we-are-afraid", "text": "We are afraid of having and showing a small mind and we are not afraid of having and showing a small heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "intelligence", "slug": "intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:08" }, { "id": "b78e7ec7-44d0-42da-b1c9-ce377559fc20", "slug": "a-part-of-kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/a-part-of-kindness", "text": "A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:07" }, { "id": "8361a944-5108-4912-84d1-dfdde382aaa5", "slug": "the-good-is-worth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/the-good-is-worth", "text": "The good is worth more than the best.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "moderation", "slug": "moderation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/moderation" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:05" }, { "id": "ec3af058-d1f0-4a52-a231-f471b9d4e2d2", "slug": "we-value-virtue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/travels-with-charley-in-search-of-america/we-value-virtue", "text": "We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Travels with Charley in Search of America", "slug": "travels-with-charley-in-search-of-america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/travels-with-charley-in-search-of-america" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "media", "slug": "media", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/media" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Travels_With_Charley:_In_Search_of_America_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:04" }, { "id": "4e57d6d8-cf09-4823-b977-ee7807ceaa66", "slug": "and-now-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/east-of-eden/and-now-that", "text": "And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "East of Eden", "slug": "east-of-eden", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/east-of-eden" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 583, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/East_of_Eden_(novel)#Part_4", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:00" }, { "id": "a451e088-78d7-4675-867f-cb1d9c34b703", "slug": "in-uncertainty-i-am-certain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/east-of-eden/in-uncertainty-i-am-certain", "text": "In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.\n\nWe have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "East of Eden", "slug": "east-of-eden", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/east-of-eden" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#East_of_Eden_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:59" }, { "id": "a2dda3bb-95b2-4d8f-a5d0-f77d732b44cb", "slug": "there-is-a-strange", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-log-from-the-sea-of-cortez/there-is-a-strange", "text": "There is a strange duality in the human which makes for an ethical paradox. We have definitions of good qualities and of bad; not changing things, but generally considered good and bad throughout the ages and throughout the species. Of the good, we think always of wisdom, tolerance, kindliness, generosity, humility; and the qualities of cruelty, greed, self-interest, graspingness, and rapacity are universally considered undesirable. And yet in our structure of society, the so-called and considered good qualities are invariable concomitants of failure, while the bad ones are the cornerstones of success. A man — a viewing-point man — while he will love the abstract good qualities and detest the abstract bad, will nevertheless envy and admire the person who though possessing the bad qualities has succeeded economically and socially, and will hold in contempt that person whose good qualities have caused failure. When such a viewing-point man thinks of Jesus or St. Augustine or Socrates he regards them with love because they are the symbols of the good he admires, and he hates the symbols of the bad. But actually he would rather be successful than good. In an animal other than man we would replace the term “good” with “weak survival quotient” and the term “bad” with “strong survival quotient.” Thus, man in his thinking or reverie status admires the progression toward extinction, but in the unthinking stimulus which really activates him he tends toward survival. Perhaps no other animal is so torn between alternatives. Man might be described fairly adequately, if simply, as a two-legged paradox. He has never become accustomed to the tragic miracle of consciousness. Perhaps, as has been suggested, his species is not set, has not jelled, but is still in a state of becoming, bound by his physical memories to a past of struggle and survival, limited in his futures by the uneasiness of thought and consciousness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Log from the Sea of Cortez", "slug": "the-log-from-the-sea-of-cortez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-log-from-the-sea-of-cortez" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "success and failure", "slug": "success-and-failure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/success-and-failure" }, { "name": "paradox", "slug": "paradox", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/paradox" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#The_Log_from_the_Sea_of_Cortez_(1951)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:59" }, { "id": "eba7d332-0946-4896-bbdf-b4e3a20e4196", "slug": "guy-dont-need", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/of-mice-and-men/guy-dont-need", "text": "Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus' works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Of Mice and Men", "slug": "of-mice-and-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/of-mice-and-men" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 41, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "intelligence", "slug": "intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Of_Mice_and_Men_(1937)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:57" }, { "id": "51b274ba-a9d7-4629-a7ce-26aacb7a781c", "slug": "it-has-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/cannery-row/it-has-always", "text": "\"It has always seemed strange to me,\" said Doc. \"The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Cannery Row", "slug": "cannery-row", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/cannery-row" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "success and failure", "slug": "success-and-failure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/success-and-failure" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Cannery_Row_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:57" }, { "id": "ed22da2a-75d2-4f96-9054-c23de5af5469", "slug": "it-is-worth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/tortilla-flat/it-is-worth", "text": "“It is worth while to be kind and generous,” he said. “Not only do such actions pile up a house of joy in Heaven; but there is, too, a quick reward here on earth. One feels a golden warmth glowing like a hot enchilada in one’s stomach.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Tortilla Flat", "slug": "tortilla-flat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/tortilla-flat" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Tortilla_Flat_(1935)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:56" }, { "id": "676ff804-c4f1-4b3c-ad52-cb2b3c6422f6", "slug": "it-is-a-fact", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/tortilla-flat/it-is-a-fact", "text": "It is a fact verified and recorded in many histories that the soul capable of the greatest good is also capable of the greatest evil. Who is there more impious than a backsliding priest? Who more carnal than a recent virgin? This, however, may be a matter of appearance.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Tortilla Flat", "slug": "tortilla-flat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/tortilla-flat" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Tortilla_Flat_(1935)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:56" }, { "id": "9d098184-e59b-454f-a016-cb9c66eba965", "slug": "kindness-covers-all", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/roger-ebert/life-itself/kindness-covers-all", "text": "\"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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Roger Ebert", "slug": "roger-ebert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/roger-ebert" }, "book": { "title": "Life Itself", "slug": "life-itself", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/roger-ebert/life-itself" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert#Life_Itself_:_A_Memoir_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:48" }, { "id": "6a6239da-42db-4c41-b9dc-961ca3b12ef0", "slug": "i-am-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-jay-gould/eight-little-piggies/i-am-not", "text": "I am not […] asserting that humans are either genial or aggressive by inborn biological necessity. Obviously, both kindness and violence lie within the bounds of our nature because we perpetrate both, in spades. I only advance a structural claim that social stability rules nearly all the time and must be based on an overwhelmingly predominant (but tragically ignored) frequency of genial acts, and that geniality is therefore our usual and preferred response nearly all the time. […] [T]he center of human nature is rooted in ten thousand ordinary acts of kindness that define our days.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen Jay Gould", "slug": "stephen-jay-gould", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-jay-gould" }, "book": { "title": "Eight Little Piggies", "slug": "eight-little-piggies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-jay-gould/eight-little-piggies" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 282, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould#Eight_Little_Piggies_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:34" }, { "id": "3e6ce11f-dbe5-4ecf-a944-4363d7487b74", "slug": "a-good-head", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-mandela/long-walk-to-freedom/a-good-head", "text": "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Mandela", "slug": "nelson-mandela", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-mandela" }, "book": { "title": "Long Walk to Freedom", "slug": "long-walk-to-freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-mandela/long-walk-to-freedom" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "intelligence", "slug": "intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela#Long_Walk_to_Freedom_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:25" }, { "id": "eafc8e69-e173-4c2e-8d26-e907a6c860db", "slug": "between-being-right", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/i-will-fear-no-evil/between-being-right", "text": "Between being ‘right’ and being kind, I know which way I vote.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert A. Heinlein", "slug": "robert-a-heinlein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein" }, "book": { "title": "I Will Fear No Evil", "slug": "i-will-fear-no-evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/i-will-fear-no-evil" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 400, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#I_Will_Fear_No_Evil_(1970)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:59" }, { "id": "8a6fa328-616c-4b73-901c-72b9113a161a", "slug": "evil-men-could", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/childhoods-end/evil-men-could", "text": "Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur C. Clarke", "slug": "arthur-c-clarke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke" }, "book": { "title": "Childhood's End", "slug": "childhoods-end", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/childhoods-end" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "illusions", "slug": "illusions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/illusions" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Childhood's_End#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:52" }, { "id": "839964bb-9339-401d-a9be-f95c17751063", "slug": "you-dont-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maya-angelou/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings/you-dont-have", "text": "You don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maya Angelou", "slug": "maya-angelou", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maya-angelou" }, "book": { "title": "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", "slug": "i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maya-angelou/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou#I_Know_Why_the_Caged_Bird_Sings_(1969)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:13" }, { "id": "ee2d6429-20db-4a43-94ee-fe1f2dc7c4cb", "slug": "kindness-and-intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ray-bradbury/dandelion-wine/kindness-and-intelligence", "text": "Kindness and intelligence are the preoccupations of age. Being cruel and thoughtless is far more fascinating when you’re twenty.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ray Bradbury", "slug": "ray-bradbury", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ray-bradbury" }, "book": { "title": "Dandelion Wine", "slug": "dandelion-wine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ray-bradbury/dandelion-wine" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 147, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "old age", "slug": "old-age", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/old-age" }, { "name": "youth", "slug": "youth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury#Dandelion_Wine_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:11" }, { "id": "6e9fb400-e720-45de-9131-98e8c1694918", "slug": "good-to-evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ray-bradbury/something-wicked-this-way-comes/good-to-evil", "text": "Good to evil seems evil.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ray Bradbury", "slug": "ray-bradbury", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ray-bradbury" }, "book": { "title": "Something Wicked This Way Comes", "slug": "something-wicked-this-way-comes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ray-bradbury/something-wicked-this-way-comes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 275, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury#Something_Wicked_This_Way_Comes_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:11" }, { "id": "6c6b4618-768c-4129-8b65-79c9cf303dcc", "slug": "adam-glanced-up-in-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens/adam-glanced-up-in-one", "text": "Adam glanced up. In one sense there was just clear air overhead. In another, stretching off to infinity, were the hosts of Heaven and Hell, wingtip to wingtip. If you looked really closely, and had been specially trained, you could tell the difference.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Good Omens", "slug": "good-omens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Good_Omens#Saturday", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:53" }, { "id": "2df69415-948a-405f-afb7-5b789b52629b", "slug": "just-when-youd", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens/just-when-youd", "text": "Just when you'd think they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they could occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved. It was this free-will thing, of course. It was a bugger.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Good Omens", "slug": "good-omens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 34, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Good_Omens#Eleven_years_ago", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:52" }, { "id": "104f38a0-b1c8-471f-bf8d-2bfa366aa46e", "slug": "a-demon-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens/a-demon-can", "text": "\"A demon can get into real trouble, doing the right thing.\" He nudged the angel. \"Funny if we both got it wrong, eh? Funny if I did the good thing and you did the bad one, eh?\"\n\n\"Not really,\" said Aziraphale.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Good Omens", "slug": "good-omens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 5, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Good_Omens#In_the_beginning._._.", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:52" }, { "id": "7d170143-9f9c-4c8a-afcf-6524719974b1", "slug": "and-the-science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan/and-the-science", "text": "And the Science of them, is the true and onely Moral Philosophy. For Moral Philosophy is nothing else but the Science of what is Good, and Evill, in the conversation, and Society of mankind. Good, and Evill, are names that signify our Appetites, and Aversions; which in different tempers, customes, and doctrines of men, are different:", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Hobbes", "slug": "thomas-hobbes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes" }, "book": { "title": "Leviathan", "slug": "leviathan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 79, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes#Chapter_15", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:47" }, { "id": "0eae7497-1e17-4324-a3ad-5bf0b0e7f5db", "slug": "you-couldnt-help", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/jailbird/you-couldnt-help", "text": "You couldn't help that you were born without a heart. At least you tried to believe what the people with hearts believed — so you were a good man just the same.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Jailbird", "slug": "jailbird", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/jailbird" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Jailbird_(1979)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:41" }, { "id": "c6b700a6-1545-4a96-b505-f009aff2e193", "slug": "pretend-to-be-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/god-bless-you-mr-rosewater/pretend-to-be-good", "text": "Pretend to be good always, and even God will be fooled.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater", "slug": "god-bless-you-mr-rosewater", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/god-bless-you-mr-rosewater" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "appearances", "slug": "appearances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#God_Bless_You,_Mr._Rosewater_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:38" }, { "id": "c12a49c9-e48f-4e17-bd25-2b6cc77b5337", "slug": "hello-babies-welcome", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/god-bless-you-mr-rosewater/hello-babies-welcome", "text": "Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies — \"God damn it, you've got to be kind.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater", "slug": "god-bless-you-mr-rosewater", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/god-bless-you-mr-rosewater" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#God_Bless_You,_Mr._Rosewater_(1965)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:38" }, { "id": "ae063b00-ca28-4622-a9fc-125827705ec0", "slug": "it-was-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/cats-cradle/it-was-the", "text": "It was the belief of Bokonon that good societies could be built only by pitting good against evil, and by keeping tension between the two high at all times.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Cat's Cradle", "slug": "cats-cradle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/cats-cradle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat's_Cradle#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:37" }, { "id": "bd66f84d-a80e-43fa-8291-32b1270cb4b1", "slug": "i-can-think", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/the-sirens-of-titan/i-can-think", "text": "I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "The Sirens of Titan", "slug": "the-sirens-of-titan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/the-sirens-of-titan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 242, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#The_Sirens_of_Titan_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:35" }, { "id": "507e3998-5860-4699-8ed6-a9d333b9fbed", "slug": "there-is-no-reason", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/the-sirens-of-titan/there-is-no-reason", "text": "There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "The Sirens of Titan", "slug": "the-sirens-of-titan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/the-sirens-of-titan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 165, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#The_Sirens_of_Titan_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:35" }, { "id": "18e1be7c-6793-4263-b618-036b967c1494", "slug": "here-it-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/here-it-was", "text": "Here it was again, the most ancient of roadforks, one that Paul had glimpsed before, in Kroner's study, months ago. The choice of one course or the other had nothing to do with machines, hierarchies, economics, love, age. It was a purely internal matter. Every child older than six knew the fork, and knew what the good guys did here, and what the bad guys did here. The fork was a familiar one in folk tales the world over, and the good guys and the bad guys, whether in chaps, breechclouts, serapes, leopardskins, or banker's gray pinstripes, all separated here.\n\nBad guys turned informer. Good guys didn't — no matter when, no matter what.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Player Piano", "slug": "player-piano", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 293, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "betrayal", "slug": "betrayal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/betrayal" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Player_Piano_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:34" }, { "id": "f2cce3a8-f3a6-40df-bb1e-04f203db0121", "slug": "the-daily-actions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-dennett/breaking-the-spell/the-daily-actions", "text": "The daily actions of religious people have accomplished uncounted good deeds throughout history, alleviating suffering, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick. Religions have brought the comfort of belonging and companionship to many who would otherwise have passed through this life all alone, without glory or adventure. They have not just provided first aid, in effect, for people in difficulties; they have provided the means for changing the world in ways that remove those difficulties. As Alan Wolfe says, \"Religion can lead people out of cycles of poverty and dependency just as it led Moses out of Egypt\". There is much for religion lovers to be proud of in their traditions, and much for all of us to be grateful for.The fact that so many people love their religions as much as, or more than, anything else in their lives is a weighty fact indeed. I am inclined to think that nothing could matter more than what people love. At any rate, I can think of no value that I would place higher. I would not want to live in a world without love. Would a world with peace, but without love, be a better world? Not if the peace was achieved by drugging the love (and hate) out of us, or by suppression. Would a world with justice and freedom, but without love, be a better world? Not if it was achieved by somehow turning us all into loveless law-abiders with none of the yearnings or envies or hatreds that are wellsprings of injustice and subjugation.It is hard to consider such hypotheticals, and I doubt if we should trust our first intuitions about them, but, for what it is worth, I surmise that we almost all want a world in which love, justice, freedom, and peace are all present, as much as possible, but if we had to give up one of these, it wouldn't — and shouldn't — be love. But, sad to say, even if it is true that nothing could matter more than love, it wouldn't follow from this that we don't have reason to question the things that we, and others, love. Love is blind, as they say, and because love is blind, it often leads to tragedy: to conflicts in which one love is pitted against another love, and something has to give, with suffering guaranteed in any resolution.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Daniel Dennett", "slug": "daniel-dennett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-dennett" }, "book": { "title": "Breaking the Spell", "slug": "breaking-the-spell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-dennett/breaking-the-spell" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett#Breaking_the_Spell_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:29" }, { "id": "b57259e2-6feb-461d-a4fa-350e1b10db55", "slug": "i-will-keep", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann/the-magic-mountain/i-will-keep", "text": "I will keep faith with death in my heart, yet will remember that faith with death and the dead is only wickedness and dark voluptuousness and enmity against humankind, if it is given power over our thought and contemplation. For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts. And with that, I wake up.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Mann", "slug": "thomas-mann", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann" }, "book": { "title": "The Magic Mountain", "slug": "the-magic-mountain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann/the-magic-mountain" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Mann#The_Magic_Mountain_(1924)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:16" }, { "id": "1496e5e4-5de5-443b-9273-7c64bae12b34", "slug": "there-is-both", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann/the-magic-mountain/there-is-both", "text": "There is both rhyme and reason in what I say, I have made a dream poem of humanity. I will cling to it. I will be good. I will let death have no mastery over my thoughts. For therein lies goodness and love of humankind, and in nothing else.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Mann", "slug": "thomas-mann", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann" }, "book": { "title": "The Magic Mountain", "slug": "the-magic-mountain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann/the-magic-mountain" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Mann#The_Magic_Mountain_(1924)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:16" }, { "id": "ae20accc-dd94-4864-8364-55b30572bcdf", "slug": "we-must-frankly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james/the-varieties-of-religious-experience/we-must-frankly", "text": "We must frankly confess, then, using our empirical common sense and ordinary practical prejudices, that in the world that actually is, the virtues of sympathy, charity, and non-resistance may be, and often have been, manifested in excess. ... You will agree to this in general, for in spite of the Gospel, in spite of Quakerism, in spite of Tolstoi, you believe in fighting fire with fire, in shooting down usurpers, locking up thieves, and freezing out vagabonds and swindlers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William James", "slug": "william-james", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james" }, "book": { "title": "The Varieties of Religious Experience", "slug": "the-varieties-of-religious-experience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james/the-varieties-of-religious-experience" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "empathy", "slug": "empathy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_James#The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience_(1902)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:15" }, { "id": "3a5e80cf-7596-4883-9335-fd779172014c", "slug": "if-things-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james/the-varieties-of-religious-experience/if-things-are", "text": "If things are ever to move upward, some one must take the first step, and assume the risk of it. No one who is not willing to try charity, to try non-resistance as the saint is always willing, can tell whether these methods will or will not succeed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William James", "slug": "william-james", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james" }, "book": { "title": "The Varieties of Religious Experience", "slug": "the-varieties-of-religious-experience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-james/the-varieties-of-religious-experience" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "courage", "slug": "courage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/courage" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_James#The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience_(1902)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:15" }, { "id": "d3540ee3-62e1-410e-b575-3d4cac13fc66", "slug": "it-has-been", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman/it-has-been", "text": "It has been my experience that the better a man you are, the more folks there are who resent you for it, and find occasion to get angry at you no matter how kindly meant your deeds may be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Alvin Journeyman", "slug": "alvin-journeyman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "jealousy", "slug": "jealousy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/jealousy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Alvin_Journeyman_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:13" }, { "id": "ccf50328-431a-4e98-85ee-d5d383f561e3", "slug": "debased-men-but", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman/debased-men-but", "text": "Debased men, but they all had something in common: They showed a keen regard for virtue, and tried to dress themselves in that costume. Hypocrisy, for all its bad reputation, at least showed a decent respect for goodness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Alvin Journeyman", "slug": "alvin-journeyman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "hypocrisy", "slug": "hypocrisy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Alvin_Journeyman_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:13" }, { "id": "5e62ee60-ee98-453e-9dca-ea2535fae706", "slug": "i-think-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman/i-think-that", "text": "I think that a good person can sometimes do wrong out of ignorance or weakness or wrong thinking, but when hard times come, the goodness wins out after all. And a bad person can often seem good and trustworthy for a long time, but when hard times come, the evil in him gets revealed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Alvin Journeyman", "slug": "alvin-journeyman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Alvin_Journeyman_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:13" }, { "id": "5a4c3d55-3009-4669-88ac-3569f1990a82", "slug": "what-you-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman/what-you-are", "text": "What you are is a man who means to be good, and undo the bad he's done, and that's as good as any man ever gets.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Alvin Journeyman", "slug": "alvin-journeyman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Alvin_Journeyman_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:13" }, { "id": "55565cdb-8377-4c8a-bad0-ca1b1d8c3fcc", "slug": "alvin-wondered-if-it-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman/alvin-wondered-if-it-was", "text": "Alvin wondered if it was true—if all men had evil in their hearts, and those men as were good, maybe they were simply the ones who controlled theirselves so well they could act contrary to their heart's desire. But if that were so, then no man was good, not one.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Alvin Journeyman", "slug": "alvin-journeyman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/alvin-journeyman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "self-control", "slug": "self-control", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-control" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Alvin_Journeyman_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:13" }, { "id": "a512cc0e-888a-4957-bd5c-66ff7f76eb8b", "slug": "peggy-chose-her", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/prentice-alvin/peggy-chose-her", "text": "Peggy chose her words to be true, and therefore beautiful, and therefore good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Prentice Alvin", "slug": "prentice-alvin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/prentice-alvin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Prentice_Alvin_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:12" }, { "id": "818fc29f-4163-4278-b23c-7c706350aa36", "slug": "ive-learned-much", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/prentice-alvin/ive-learned-much", "text": "I've learned much, Father, and this above all: that no station in life is above any other, if it's occupied by someone with a good heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Prentice Alvin", "slug": "prentice-alvin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/prentice-alvin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "equality", "slug": "equality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/equality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Prentice_Alvin_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:12" }, { "id": "688bc4da-8798-4ea0-b57c-da3cc0f02226", "slug": "today-i-saw", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/earthborn/today-i-saw", "text": "Today, I saw a spark of decency. Let's blow on that spark and give it fuel.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Earthborn", "slug": "earthborn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/earthborn" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Earthborn_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:10" }, { "id": "e76c9262-d58e-47a2-a6cc-c37178444a6c", "slug": "you-take-responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-ships-of-earth/you-take-responsibility", "text": "You take responsibility for us all. Without ever waiting to be told.\n\nSo do all good people. That's what it means to be a good person.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "The Ships of Earth", "slug": "the-ships-of-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-ships-of-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Ships_Of_Earth_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09" }, { "id": "54e8db53-3b3e-4413-9ec0-448dbb15bf89", "slug": "physically-plain-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-ships-of-earth/physically-plain-people", "text": "Physically plain people are perfectly able to see physical beauty in others, while people who are morally maimed are blind to goodness and decency. They honestly think it doesn't exist.\n\nOh, they know it exists all right. They just never know which people have it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "The Ships of Earth", "slug": "the-ships-of-earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/the-ships-of-earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#The_Ships_Of_Earth_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:09" }, { "id": "fb11a5c2-d028-4b8e-8cf7-55ec4e6cc9fa", "slug": "theres-some-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/lost-boys/theres-some-people", "text": "There's some people who do things so bad it tears the fabric of the world, and then there's some people so sweet and good that they can feel it when the world gets torn. They see things, they know things, only they're so good and pure that they don't understand what it is that they're seeing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Lost Boys", "slug": "lost-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/lost-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Lost_Boys_(1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:07" }, { "id": "76cda82e-1923-42ae-8c6a-e34e628e16eb", "slug": "now-everything-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/my-mortal-enemy/now-everything-was", "text": "Now everything was in ruins. The air was still and cold like the air in a refrigerating-room. What I felt was fear; I was afraid to look or speak or move. Everything about me seemed evil. When kindness has left people, even for a few moments, we become afraid of them, as if their reason had left them. When it has left a place where we have always found it, it is like shipwreck; we drop from security into something malevolent and bottomless.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "My Mortal Enemy", "slug": "my-mortal-enemy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/my-mortal-enemy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#My_Mortal_Enemy_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:03" }, { "id": "463a971a-d71c-42be-8d56-51c02e096c20", "slug": "he-kept-telling", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-ende/the-neverending-story/he-kept-telling", "text": "He kept telling himself that he had made Yikka's dearest wish come true. But that didn't make him feel any better. A person's reason for doing someone a good turn matters as much as the good turn itself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Ende", "slug": "michael-ende", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-ende" }, "book": { "title": "The Neverending Story", "slug": "the-neverending-story", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-ende/the-neverending-story" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "good intentions", "slug": "good-intentions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/good-intentions" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Neverending_Story#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:56" }, { "id": "ec76bb45-6aa5-4faf-b76b-4c92961e193f", "slug": "when-a-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness/when-a-man", "text": "When a man declares: \"There are no blacks and whites [in morality]\" he is making a psychological confession, and what he means is: \"I am unwilling to be wholly good—and please don't regard me as wholly evil!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Virtue of Selfishness", "slug": "the-virtue-of-selfishness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#The_Virtue_of_Selfishness_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:52" }, { "id": "b55be47e-5f1a-4038-94e9-b6b2ffe7093c", "slug": "an-attempt-to-achieve", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism-the-unknown-ideal/an-attempt-to-achieve", "text": "An attempt to achieve the good by force is like an attempt to provide a man with a picture gallery at the price of cutting out his eyes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal", "slug": "capitalism-the-unknown-ideal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism-the-unknown-ideal" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "violence", "slug": "violence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#Capitalism:_The_Unknown_Ideal_(1966)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:52" }, { "id": "c360e299-8868-43d8-8284-6f54b29fd273", "slug": "whatever-pretended-pessimists", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/the-cream-of-the-jest/whatever-pretended-pessimists", "text": "Whatever pretended pessimists in search of notoriety may say, most people are naturally kind, at heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Branch Cabell", "slug": "james-branch-cabell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell" }, "book": { "title": "The Cream of the Jest", "slug": "the-cream-of-the-jest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/the-cream-of-the-jest" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell#The_Cream_of_the_Jest_(1917)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:49" }, { "id": "381f9664-573e-4719-b2ba-bfd78d70a609", "slug": "good-and-evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/jurgen/good-and-evil", "text": "Good and evil keep very exact accounts... and the face of every man is their ledger.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Branch Cabell", "slug": "james-branch-cabell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell" }, "book": { "title": "Jurgen", "slug": "jurgen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/jurgen" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell#Jurgen_(1919)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:49" }, { "id": "e81958c0-dbcc-4dad-806a-4b6b0248117f", "slug": "one-night-i-realized", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/lonesome-traveler/one-night-i-realized", "text": "One night I realized that when you give people understanding and encouragement a funny little meek childish look abashes their eyes, no matter what they've been doing they weren't sure it was right — lambies all over the world.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Kerouac", "slug": "jack-kerouac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac" }, "book": { "title": "Lonesome Traveler", "slug": "lonesome-traveler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/lonesome-traveler" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "empathy", "slug": "empathy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac#Lonesome_Traveler_(1960)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:32" }, { "id": "d8e66e83-76fd-430e-a88b-e6f7fc1e6202", "slug": "life-is-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/on-the-road/life-is-life", "text": "Life is life, and kind is kind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Kerouac", "slug": "jack-kerouac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac" }, "book": { "title": "On the Road", "slug": "on-the-road", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/on-the-road" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_the_Road#Part_two", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:30" }, { "id": "ce3d1950-2661-4af3-b7db-7876247caf8d", "slug": "it-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune/it-is-not", "text": "It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Dune", "slug": "dune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "the state", "slug": "the-state", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-state" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Dune:_House_Corrino_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:49" }, { "id": "5bb8ebee-3d87-4e5c-b0db-b3e1de30d13b", "slug": "at-night-too", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anais-nin/a-spy-in-the-house-of-love/at-night-too", "text": "At night too, she puzzled the mystery of her desperate need of kindness. As other girls prayed for handsomeness in a lover, or for wealth, or for power, or for poetry, she had prayed fervently: let him be kind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anaïs Nin", "slug": "anais-nin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anais-nin" }, "book": { "title": "A Spy In The House Of Love", "slug": "a-spy-in-the-house-of-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anais-nin/a-spy-in-the-house-of-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ana%C3%AFs_Nin#A_Spy_in_the_House_of_Love_(1954)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:46" }, { "id": "abd2fec8-e358-4410-80cb-bcd80515c14a", "slug": "this-shipmates-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/this-shipmates-this", "text": "This, shipmates, this is that other lesson; and woe to that pilot of the living God who slights it. Woe to him whom this world charms from Gospel duty! Woe to him who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God has brewed them into a gale! Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appal! Woe to him whose good name is more to him than goodness! Woe to him who, in this world, courts not dishonor! Woe to him who would not be true, even though to be false were salvation! Yea, woe to him who, as the great Pilot Paul has it, while preaching to others is himself a castaway!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "Moby-Dick", "slug": "moby-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 53, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#The_Sermon_(9)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:40" }, { "id": "f4f23c28-48c4-43cd-a5ac-cafb139b8117", "slug": "good-is-a-noun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/lila/good-is-a-noun", "text": "Good is a noun rather than an adjective.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert M. Pirsig", "slug": "robert-m-pirsig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig" }, "book": { "title": "Lila", "slug": "lila", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/lila" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig#Lila_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:34" }, { "id": "2e82f379-897a-40be-a54d-a61c9ab67207", "slug": "the-good-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/the-good-was", "text": "The Good was not a form of reality. It was reality itself, ever changing, ultimately unknowable in any kind of fixed, rigid way.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert M. Pirsig", "slug": "robert-m-pirsig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig" }, "book": { "title": "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", "slug": "zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "reality", "slug": "reality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig#Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance_(1974)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:34" }, { "id": "29a0269b-dbd4-40e6-be30-b63b34a3cdac", "slug": "quality-tends-to-fan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/quality-tends-to-fan", "text": "Quality tends to fan out like waves. The Quality job he didn't think anyone was going to see is seen, and the person who sees it feels a little better because of it, and is likely to pass that feeling on to others, and in that way the Quality tends to keep on going.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert M. Pirsig", "slug": "robert-m-pirsig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig" }, "book": { "title": "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", "slug": "zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-m-pirsig/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "quality", "slug": "quality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig#Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance_(1974)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:33" }, { "id": "b436fe41-8dfc-4ed5-9220-176d90475974", "slug": "he-was-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/trigger-warning-short-fictions-and-disturbances/he-was-kind", "text": "He was kind, and gentle, with that midwestern niceness that’s a positive thing rather than an absence of character.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances", "slug": "trigger-warning-short-fictions-and-disturbances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/trigger-warning-short-fictions-and-disturbances" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman#Trigger_Warning_(2015)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:14" }, { "id": "fb596771-e600-46cb-8d98-05282fc25860", "slug": "youve-a-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/neverwhere/youve-a-good", "text": "“You’ve a good heart,” she told him. “Sometimes that’s enough to see you safe wherever you go.” Then she shook her head. “But mostly, it’s not.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Neverwhere", "slug": "neverwhere", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/neverwhere" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman#Neverwhere_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:06" }, { "id": "aedac43f-27bf-4790-8b8e-250fc65098cd", "slug": "only-a-sweet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple/only-a-sweet", "text": "Only a sweet and virtuous soul,\n\nLike season'd timber, never gives;\n\nBut though the whole world turn to coal,\n\nThen chiefly lives.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Herbert", "slug": "george-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "The Temple", "slug": "the-temple", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "soul", "slug": "soul", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/soul" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert#The_Temple_(1633)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:00" }, { "id": "e33207d6-7e3d-42a4-9deb-67c7c1cb0ddf", "slug": "dad-on-friendship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding/dad-on-friendship", "text": "Dad on friendship: \"Sure, some people are nice. Real nice. Nice like carpets so you can walk all over them.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Sedaris", "slug": "david-sedaris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris" }, "book": { "title": "Theft by Finding", "slug": "theft-by-finding", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 31, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "father", "slug": "father", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/father" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Sedaris#Theft_by_Finding:_Diaries,_Volume_1_(1977-2002)_(2017)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:59" }, { "id": "eaa2dc34-51e8-4be0-97df-30cd740c33fa", "slug": "to-me-it-seems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/the-way-of-all-flesh/to-me-it-seems", "text": "To me it seems that those who are happy in this world are better and more lovable people than those who are not.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel Butler", "slug": "samuel-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler" }, "book": { "title": "The Way of All Flesh", "slug": "the-way-of-all-flesh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/the-way-of-all-flesh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(novelist)#The_Way_of_All_Flesh_(1903)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:54" }, { "id": "93a08b00-8f6e-47b4-bdf9-ee9a9b24ae8c", "slug": "her-finely-touched", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/middlemarch/her-finely-touched", "text": "Her finely touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Middlemarch", "slug": "middlemarch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/middlemarch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "modesty", "slug": "modesty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/modesty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Middlemarch_(1871-72)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:52" }, { "id": "fa7bfcd5-65ee-4738-b1a3-9e5d61ca6d13", "slug": "when-a-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner/when-a-man", "text": "when a man had deserved his good luck, it was the part of his neighbours to wish him joy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Silas Marner", "slug": "silas-marner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 183, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Silas_Marner:_The_Weaver_of_Raveloe_(1861)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:51" }, { "id": "45c2866a-7979-4b1a-a02d-db93c1e0b153", "slug": "tito-was-experiencing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/romola/tito-was-experiencing", "text": "Tito was experiencing that inexorable law of human souls, that we prepare ourselves for sudden deeds by the reiterated choice of good or evil that gradually determines character.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Romola", "slug": "romola", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/romola" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "choices", "slug": "choices", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices" }, { "name": "character", "slug": "character", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/character" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Romola_(1863)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:51" }, { "id": "1d52e80e-6a35-4b38-adf3-94631da40ee2", "slug": "he-had-a-sense", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner/he-had-a-sense", "text": "He had a sense that the old man meant to be good-natured and neighbourly; but the kindness fell on him as sunshine falls on the wretched — he had no heart to taste it, and felt that it was very far off him.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Silas Marner", "slug": "silas-marner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/silas-marner" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 79, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Silas_Marner:_The_Weaver_of_Raveloe_(1861)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:51" }, { "id": "8f0fe299-1955-495c-aa7e-02df31fa30bd", "slug": "this-study-of-different", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/this-study-of-different", "text": "This study of different nations in their remoter provinces, and in the simplicity of their native genius, gives a general result which is very satisfactory, to my thinking, and very consoling to the human heart; it is this: All the nations, if you observe them in this fashion, seem much better worth observing; the nearer they are to nature, the more does kindness hold sway in their character; it is only when they are cooped up in towns, it is only when they are changed by cultivation, that they become depraved, that certain faults which were rather coarse than injurious are exchanged for pleasant but pernicious vices.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "nature", "slug": "nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "cities", "slug": "cities", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cities" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_V", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:38" }, { "id": "1e3051f3-7313-4d9a-b94c-3a1fe43ee49d", "slug": "affection-and-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/affection-and-kind", "text": "Affection and kind deeds rarely win hearts, and they hardly ever win them back.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_V", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:38" }, { "id": "b40bd80d-484b-4926-ae89-318bb0eff759", "slug": "people-make-a-great", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/people-make-a-great", "text": "People make a great mystery of the ways of society, as if, at the age when these ways are acquired, we did not take to them quite naturally, and as if the first laws of politeness were not to be found in a kindly heart. True politeness consists in showing our goodwill towards men; it shows its presence without any difficulty; those only who lack this goodwill are compelled to reduce the outward signs of it to an art.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "good manners", "slug": "good-manners", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/good-manners" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:36" }, { "id": "c9245c70-127b-42fd-b5a0-0c81e28a8ad9", "slug": "mothers-and-nurses", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/mothers-and-nurses", "text": "Mothers and nurses grow fond of children because of the care they lavish on them; the practice of social virtues touches the very heart with the love of humanity; by doing good we become good; and I know no surer way to this end. Keep your pupil busy with the good deeds that are within his power, let the cause of the poor be his own, let him help them not merely with his money, but with his service; let him work for them, protect them, let his person and his time be at their disposal; let him be their agent; he will never all his life long have a more honourable office. How many of the oppressed, who have never got a hearing, will obtain justice when he demands it for them with that courage and firmness which the practice of virtue inspires; when he makes his way into the presence of the rich and great, when he goes, if need be, to the footstool of the king himself, to plead the cause of the wretched, the cause of those who find all doors closed to them by their poverty, those who are so afraid of being punished for their misfortunes that they do not dare to complain?\n\nBut shall we make of Emile a knight-errant, a redresser of wrongs, a paladin? Shall he thrust himself into public life, play the sage and the defender of the laws before the great, before the magistrates, before the king? Shall he lay petitions before the judges and plead in the law courts? That I cannot say. The nature of things is not changed by terms of mockery and scorn. He will do all that he knows to be useful and good. He will do nothing more, and he knows that nothing is useful and good for him which is unbefitting his age. He knows that his first duty is to himself; that young men should distrust themselves; that they should act circumspectly; that they should show respect to those older than themselves, reticence and discretion in talking without cause, modesty in things indifferent, but courage in well doing, and boldness to speak the truth. Such were those illustrious Romans who, having been admitted into public life, spent their days in bringing criminals to justice and in protecting the innocent, without any motives beyond those of learning, and of the furtherance of justice and of the protection of right conduct.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "helping others", "slug": "helping-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:35" }, { "id": "46200a44-faad-4085-bece-54f13d43adfc", "slug": "we-have-reached", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/we-have-reached", "text": "We have reached the moral order at last; we have just taken the second step towards manhood. If this were the place for it, I would try to show how the first impulses of the heart give rise to the first stirrings of conscience, and how from the feelings of love and hatred spring the first notions of good and evil. I would show that justice and kindness are no mere abstract terms, no mere moral conceptions framed by the understanding, but true affections of the heart enlightened by reason, the natural outcome of our primitive affections; that by reason alone, unaided by conscience, we cannot establish any natural law, and that all natural right is a vain dream if it does not rest upon some instinctive need of the human heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "conscience", "slug": "conscience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:34" }, { "id": "0ba8956a-2ce7-4885-9a47-9458a368a489", "slug": "ingratitude-would-be-rarer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/ingratitude-would-be-rarer", "text": "Ingratitude would be rarer if kindness were less often the investment of a usurer. We love those who have done us a kindness; what a natural feeling! Ingratitude is not to be found in the heart of man, but self-interest is there; those who are ungrateful for benefits received are fewer than those who do a kindness for their own ends. If you sell me your gifts, I will haggle over the price; but if you pretend to give, in order to sell later on at your own price, you are guilty of fraud; it is the free gift which is beyond price. The heart is a law to itself; if you try to bind it, you lose it; give it its liberty, and you make it your own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "gifts", "slug": "gifts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gifts" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:34" }, { "id": "cdd392fb-1144-4ad1-9c53-793e5ff0850b", "slug": "see-how-we-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/see-how-we-are", "text": "See how we are gradually approaching the moral ideas which distinguish between good and evil. Hitherto we have known no law but necessity, now we are considering what is useful; we shall soon come to what is fitting and right.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "51646751-8229-4967-b537-b100001b956a", "slug": "be-just-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/be-just-human", "text": "Be just, human, kindly. Do not give alms alone, give charity; works of mercy do more than money for the relief of suffering; love others and they will love you; serve them and they will serve you; be their brother and they will be your children.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "mercy", "slug": "mercy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mercy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_II", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:32" }, { "id": "59851b9a-c592-4bc9-bd41-51f4db3ec562", "slug": "men-be-kind", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/men-be-kind", "text": "Men, be kind to your fellow-men; this is your first duty, kind to every age and station, kind to all that is not foreign to humanity. What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? Love childhood, indulge its sports, its pleasures, its delightful instincts. Who has not sometimes regretted that age when laughter was ever on the lips, and when the heart was ever at peace? Why rob these innocents of the joys which pass so quickly, of that precious gift which they cannot abuse? Why fill with bitterness the fleeting days of early childhood, days which will no more return for them than for you? Fathers, can you tell when death will call your children to him? Do not lay up sorrow for yourselves by robbing them of the short span which nature has allotted to them. As soon as they are aware of the joy of life, let them rejoice in it, go that whenever God calls them they may not die without having tasted the joy of life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "childhood", "slug": "childhood", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_II", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:31" }, { "id": "02792962-1c72-4cda-86ff-13a6bad61127", "slug": "the-great-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/the-great-thing", "text": "The great thing is to be kind to our neighbours. Among strangers the Spartan was selfish, grasping, and unjust, but unselfishness, justice, and harmony ruled his home life. Distrust those cosmopolitans who search out remote duties in their books and neglect those that lie nearest. Such philosophers will love the Tartars to avoid loving their neighbour.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "hypocrisy", "slug": "hypocrisy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:31" }, { "id": "b313fbfb-fa4f-4129-aef0-904ca9a87211", "slug": "things-were-easier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/a-writers-notebook/things-were-easier", "text": "Things were easier for the old novelists who saw people all of a piece. Speaking generally, their heroes were good through and through, their villains wholly bad.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "A Writer's Notebook", "slug": "a-writers-notebook", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/a-writers-notebook" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 196, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#A_Writer's_Notebook_(1946)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:29" }, { "id": "196f9100-e39a-4d2b-a0b5-96b5bc3d3505", "slug": "ill-give-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-summing-up/ill-give-you", "text": "I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell... their heart's in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "The Summing Up", "slug": "the-summing-up", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-summing-up" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 206, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "stupidity", "slug": "stupidity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#The_Summing_Up_(1938)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:28" }, { "id": "6a4342e6-4340-4e8c-8fcf-4b646ad8c44d", "slug": "when-you-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/when-you-are", "text": "...when you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "Cakes and Ale", "slug": "cakes-and-ale", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 166, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "youth", "slug": "youth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27" }, { "id": "05c7c86e-7ca7-4f9a-b888-15e8d0cd0e41", "slug": "men-never-do-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/niccolo-machiavelli/discourses-on-livy/men-never-do-good", "text": "Men never do good unless necessity drives them to it; but when they are free to choose and can do just as they please, confusion and disorder become rampant.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Niccolo Machiavelli", "slug": "niccolo-machiavelli", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/niccolo-machiavelli" }, "book": { "title": "Discourses on Livy", "slug": "discourses-on-livy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/niccolo-machiavelli/discourses-on-livy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli#Discourses_on_Livy_(1517)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:24" }, { "id": "af46d19e-ca5f-468c-b88c-f640e83e7ee1", "slug": "may-we-not-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno/tragic-sense-of-life/may-we-not-say", "text": "May we not say, perhaps, that the evil man is annihilated because he wished to be annihilated, or that he did not wish strongly enough to eternalize himself because he was evil? May we say that it is not believing in the other life which causes a man to be good, but rather that being good causes him believe in it? And what is being good and being evil? These states belong to the sphere of ethics, not of religion; or rather, does not the doing good though being evil pertain to ethics, and the being good [forgivable] though doing evil, to religion?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Miguel de Unamuno", "slug": "miguel-de-unamuno", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno" }, "book": { "title": "Tragic Sense of Life", "slug": "tragic-sense-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/miguel-de-unamuno/tragic-sense-of-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Unamuno#X_:_Religion,_the_Mythology_of_the_Beyond_and_the_Apocatastasis", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:23" }, { "id": "1b2f4417-7dbf-42dd-929a-0f2d0972e6ec", "slug": "one-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/a-modern-utopia/one-of-the", "text": "One of the darkest evils of our world is surely the unteachable wildness of the Good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "H.G. Wells", "slug": "hg-wells", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells" }, "book": { "title": "A Modern Utopia", "slug": "a-modern-utopia", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/a-modern-utopia" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._G._Wells#A_Modern_Utopia_(1905)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:58" }, { "id": "efe8d9a0-e03e-4afb-b808-36f0a34c44b3", "slug": "there-is-no-charm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/emma/there-is-no-charm", "text": "There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Emma", "slug": "emma", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/emma" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emma_(novel)#Volume_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:55" }, { "id": "5b7bddd4-795c-48ad-bb4b-c33f09f3b587", "slug": "general-benevolence-but", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/emma/general-benevolence-but", "text": "General benevolence, but not general friendship, made a man what he ought to be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Emma", "slug": "emma", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/emma" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emma_(novel)#Volume_3", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:55" }, { "id": "42c56967-1cb7-4e12-b4dc-195fd5388fe8", "slug": "the-only-real", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj/the-only-real", "text": "\"The only real, dignified, human doctrine is the greatest good of all, and this can only be achieved by uttermost self-sacrifice.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mahatma Gandhi", "slug": "mahatma-gandhi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi" }, "book": { "title": "Hind Swaraj", "slug": "hind-swaraj", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 83, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi#Hind_Swaraj_(1909)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:54" }, { "id": "3a8cfb3c-56c7-4ad7-9bb7-b6a66e91cedc", "slug": "there-certainly-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice/there-certainly-was", "text": "\"There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Pride and Prejudice", "slug": "pride-and-prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "appearances", "slug": "appearances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice#Chapters_31-40", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:53" }, { "id": "962db99a-f47f-4db1-a228-d6ac1953a14d", "slug": "miss-bennet-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice/miss-bennet-was", "text": "Miss Bennet was the only creature who could suppose there might be any extenuating circumstances in the case, unknown to the society of Hertfordshire; her mild and steady candour always pleaded for allowances, and urged the possibility of mistakes—but by everybody else Mr. Darcy was condemned as the worst of men.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Pride and Prejudice", "slug": "pride-and-prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice#Chapters_21-30", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:52" }, { "id": "5c2738df-7579-486d-ae53-82592d878a91", "slug": "oh-you-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice/oh-you-are", "text": "\"Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.\"\n\n\"I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.\"\n\n\"I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone. And so you like this man's sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Pride and Prejudice", "slug": "pride-and-prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "character", "slug": "character", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/character" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice#Chapters_1-10", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:51" }, { "id": "28718d91-4c05-47e3-8625-a6d05722d986", "slug": "good-the-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost/good-the-more", "text": "Good, the more\n\nCommunicated, more abundant grows.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Milton", "slug": "john-milton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton" }, "book": { "title": "Paradise Lost", "slug": "paradise-lost", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost#Book_V", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:47" }, { "id": "0c5686ae-7628-4ede-ac99-8da190e2450e", "slug": "abashed-the-devil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost/abashed-the-devil", "text": "Abashed the Devil stood,\n\nAnd felt how awful goodness is, and saw\n\nVirtue in her shape how lovely; saw, and pined\n\nHis loss.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Milton", "slug": "john-milton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton" }, "book": { "title": "Paradise Lost", "slug": "paradise-lost", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:47" }, { "id": "73a18f4e-5b70-4c21-aa56-a0651fe9bf1a", "slug": "and-oft-though", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost/and-oft-though", "text": "And oft, though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps\n\nAt wisdom's gate, and to simplicity\n\nResigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill\n\nWhere no ill seems.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Milton", "slug": "john-milton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton" }, "book": { "title": "Paradise Lost", "slug": "paradise-lost", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:46" }, { "id": "5c572d4c-5b7e-4f5e-8170-807579b8eaaa", "slug": "benevolence-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire/benevolence-is-the", "text": "Benevolence is the foundation of Justice, since we are forbidden to injure those we are bound to assist. A prophet may reveal the secrets of Heaven and futurity, but in his moral precepts he can only repeat the lessons of our own hearts.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edward Gibbon", "slug": "edward-gibbon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon" }, "book": { "title": "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", "slug": "the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Gibbon#The_History_of_the_Decline_And_Fall_Of_The_Roman_Empire_(1776%E2%80%931788)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:43" }, { "id": "4e49cad1-3c35-45f9-ae61-dbd83ab66330", "slug": "youre-the-u-s-robots", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-robot/youre-the-u-s-robots", "text": "“You’re the U. S. Robot’s psychologist, aren’t you?”\n\n“Robopsychologist, please.”\n\n“Oh, are robots so different from men, mentally?”\n\n“Worlds different.” She allowed herself a frosty smile, “Robots are essentially decent.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "I, Robot", "slug": "i-robot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-robot" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 151, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#I,_Robot_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:18" }, { "id": "7b53e0c5-016d-4c1b-b180-7a0a4b362449", "slug": "there-are-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-plague/there-are-more", "text": "...there are more things to admire in men than to despise.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Albert Camus", "slug": "albert-camus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus" }, "book": { "title": "The Plague", "slug": "the-plague", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-plague" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus#The_Plague_(1947)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:56" }, { "id": "762fc671-f220-4ec2-8bfc-8be8f3cf6aaa", "slug": "we-are-accustomed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-david-thoreau/civil-disobedience/we-are-accustomed", "text": "We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared; but improvement is slow, because the few are not materially wiser or better than the many. It is not so important that many should be as good as you, as that there be some absolute goodness somewhere; for that will leaven the whole lump.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Henry David Thoreau", "slug": "henry-david-thoreau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-david-thoreau" }, "book": { "title": "Civil Disobedience", "slug": "civil-disobedience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-david-thoreau/civil-disobedience" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)#Civil_Disobedience_(1849)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:51" }, { "id": "d6046e30-54ba-4ce2-97c3-c1ffbb606411", "slug": "its-the-little", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn/its-the-little", "text": "It’s the little things that smooths people’s roads the most, down here below.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "slug": "the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn#Chapter_28", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:47" }, { "id": "db49410b-9e03-465e-9867-6ec777763f8f", "slug": "only-charity-admitteth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-advancement-of-learning/only-charity-admitteth", "text": "Only charity admitteth no excess. For so we see, aspiring to be like God in power, the angels transgressed and fell; Ascendam, et ero similis altissimo: by aspiring to be like God in knowledge, man transgressed and fell; Eritis sicut Dii, scientes bonum et malum: but by aspiring to a similitude of God in goodness or love, neither man nor angel ever transgressed, or shall transgress.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Francis Bacon", "slug": "francis-bacon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon" }, "book": { "title": "The Advancement of Learning", "slug": "the-advancement-of-learning", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-advancement-of-learning" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon#The_Advancement_of_Learning_(1605)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:38" }, { "id": "380c7b20-30b1-4cf6-ab3b-fcf5d6a0ca54", "slug": "i-would-ask", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-tale-of-two-cities/i-would-ask", "text": "\"I would ask you, dearest, to be very generous with him always, and very lenient on his faults when he is not by. I would ask you to believe that he has a heart he very, very seldom reveals, and that there are deep wounds in it. My dear, I have seen it bleeding.\"\n\n\"It is a painful reflection to me,\" said Charles Darnay, quite astounded, \"that I should have done him any wrong. I never thought this of him.\"\n\n\"My husband, it is so. I fear he is not to be reclaimed; there is scarcely a hope that anything in his character or fortunes is reparable now. But, I am sure that he is capable of good things, gentle things, even magnanimous things.\"\n\nShe looked so beautiful in the purity of her faith in this lost man, that her husband could have looked at her as she was for hours.\n\n\"And, O my dearest Love!\" she urged, clinging nearer to him, laying her head upon his breast, and raising her eyes to his, \"remember how strong we are in our happiness, and how weak he is in his misery!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Tale of Two Cities", "slug": "a-tale-of-two-cities", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-tale-of-two-cities" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "compassion", "slug": "compassion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities#Chapter_XX_-_A_Plea", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:32" }, { "id": "9698d3bc-0b35-4a1c-b91a-a4eae3c5ca16", "slug": "the-ultimate-measure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-luther-king-jr/strength-to-love/the-ultimate-measure", "text": "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Martin Luther King, Jr.", "slug": "martin-luther-king-jr", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-luther-king-jr" }, "book": { "title": "Strength to Love", "slug": "strength-to-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-luther-king-jr/strength-to-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 25, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "courage", "slug": "courage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/courage" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "character", "slug": "character", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/character" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.#Strength_to_Love_(1963)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:32:29" } ] }