Benevolence Quotes

• All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

  Chief Seattle

  Native American, Men, Air

  Seattle (Chief) (1976). “Chief Seattle's Testimony”

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• Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Integrity, Selfish, Creativity

  Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

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• Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity.

  Confucius

  Humanity, Elements, Characteristics

  Confucius, Mencius (1861). “The Chinese Classics”, p.269

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• He who nurtures benevolence for all creatures within his heart overcomes all difficulties and will be the recipient of all types of riches at every step.

  Chanakya

  Heart, Religion, Steps

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  Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Relationship, Positive

  Mark Twain (2015). “Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend”, p.18, St. Martin's Press

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• It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

  Adam Smith

  Business, Invisible Hand, Government

  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations vol. 1, bk. 1, ch. 2 (1776)

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• Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.

  James Allen

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Men

  James Allen (2016). “As a Man Thinketh”, p.6, Xist Publishing

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• Every fresh act of benevolence is the herald of deeper satisfaction; every charitable act a stepping-stone towards heaven.

  Henry Ward Beecher

  Heaven, Satisfaction, Stones

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• General benevolence, but not general friendship, made a man what he ought to be.

  Jane Austen

  Inspiring, Men, Lost Friendship

  Jane Austen (2014). “Jane Austen Collection: illustrated - 6 eBooks and 140+ illustrations”, p.1099, Ageless Reads

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• We should do good whenever we can and do kindness at all times, for at all times we can.

  Joseph Joubert

  Kindness, Should, All Time

  Joseph Joubert (1867). “Some of the "Thoughts" of Joseph Joubert”, p.64

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• To feel much for others and little for ourselves, that to restrain our selfish, and to indulge our benevolent affections, constitutes the perfection of human nature.

  Adam Smith

  Exercise, Perfection, Selfishness

  "The Theory of Moral Sentiments".

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• Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence

  Mencius

  Inspiration, Wish, Trying

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• A monarchy conducted with infinite wisdom and infinite benevolence is the most perfect of all possible governments.

  Ezra Stiles

  Government, Perfect, Infinite

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• You shall always find what you created in your mind, for instance, a benevolent God or an evil Devil. Between them are countless facets. Therefore, concentrate on the depth of your consciousness and on what you consider to be positive and good.

  Hans Bender

  Evil, Being Positive, Mind

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• You smile with pomp and rigor, you talk of benevolence and virtue; I act with benevolence and virtue and get murdered time after time.

  William Blake

  Feelings, Religion, Virtue

  William Blake (1906). “Poetical Works”

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• To the truly benevolent mind, indeed, nothing is more satisfactory than to hear of a miser denying himself the necessaries of life a little too far and ridding us of his presence altogether.

  James Payn

  Mind, Littles, Benevolent

  James Payn (1882). “Sammlung”

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• Animated by Christian motives and directed to Christian ends, it shall in no wise go unrewarded: here, by the testimony of an approving conscience; hereafter, by the benediction of our blessed Redeemer, and a brighter inheritance his Father's house.

  Richard Mant

  Christian, Wise, Father

  Richard Mant (bp. of Down, Connor and Dromore.) (1838). “The Church and her ministrations: discourses”, p.286

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• The paternal and filial duties discipline the heart, and prepare it for the love of all mankind. The intensity of private attachment encourages, not prevents, universal benevolence.

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  Heart, Attachment, Discipline

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge (2015). “The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Volume 1: Lectures, 1795: On Politics and Religion”, p.46, Princeton University Press

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• There do remain dispersed in the soil of human nature divers seeds of goodness, of benignity, of ingenuity, which, being cherished, excited, and quickened by good culture, do, by common experience, thrust out flowers very lovely, and yield fruits very pleasant of virtue and goodness.

  Isaac Barrow

  Flower, Yield, Lovely

  Isaac Barrow (1839). “The Sermons and Expository Treatises of Isaac Barrow: With a Life of the Author”, p.145

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• But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Friendship, Happiness

  B. L. Rayner, Thomas Jefferson (1834). “Life of Thomas Jefferson: with selections from the most valuable portions of his voluminious and unrivalled private correspondence : with portrait”, p.423

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• Every man who becomes heartily and understandingly a channel of the Divine beneficence is enriched through every league of his life. Perennial satisfaction springs around and within him with perennial verdure. Flowers of gratitude and gladness bloom all along his pathway, and the melodious gurgle of the blessings be bears is echoed back by the melodious waves of the recipient stream.

  Bill Vaughan

  Gratitude, Spring, Flower

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• They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens but not foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which benevolence and justice would perish forever.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Justice, Forever, Brotherhood

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• He was so benevolent, so merciful a man that, in his mistaken passion, he would have held an umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain.

  Douglas William Jerrold

  Life, Rain, Passion

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• For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from force of character: for obedience is the constant will to execute what, by the general decree of the commonwealth, ought to be done.

  Baruch Spinoza

  Wisdom, Peace, War

  "Tractatus Politicus (TP)". Political paper by Baruch Spinoza, 1677.

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• I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.

  James Madison

  Government, Liberty, Politics

  "Time Magazine: We Don't Need No Stinking Constitution" by Larry Elder, www.realclearpolitics.com. July 7, 2011.

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