In Religion
- It is considered to be one of the seven virtues, specifically the one of the Seven Contrary Virtues (direct opposites of the seven deadly sins) that is the direct opposite to envy.
- The Talmud claims that "deeds of kindness are equal in weight to all the commandments."
- Paul of Tarsus characterizes love as being "patient and kind..." (I Corinthians).
- It is listed as one of the Christian Fruits of the Spirit by Paul of Tarsus in his Letter to the Galatians 5:22, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
- In Buddhism, one of the Ten Perfections (Paramitas) is Mettā, which is usually translated into English as "loving-kindness". Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama wrote "my religion is kindness" and authored a book entitled "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight".
- Confucius urges his followers to "recompense kindness with kindness."
- Basavanna's 'most-quoted saying in Kannada asks, "Where is religion without loving-kindness?"'.
- In Islam their are many Surahs of Allahs kindness to his slaves. The Prophet Muhammad himself said "Allah is kind and He loves Kindness". One of the first traditions of behaviour passed down to Muslim children is the Seminal doctrine "Have Mercy to those on Earth and the One in Heaven shall have Mercy upon you". The Mercy mentioned here completely embodies Kindness.
Read more about this topic: Kindness
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“Christianity as an organized religion has not always had a harmonious relationship with the family. Unlike Judaism, it kept almost no rituals that took place in private homes. The esteem that monasticism and priestly celibacy enjoyed implied a denigration of marriage and parenthood.”
—Beatrice Gottlieb, U.S. historian. The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age, ch. 12, Oxford University Press (1993)
“It must appear impossible, that theism could, from reasoning, have been the primary religion of human race, and have afterwards, by its corruption, given birth to polytheism and to all the various superstitions of the heathen world. Reason, when obvious, prevents these corruptions: When abstruse, it keeps the principles entirely from the knowledge of the vulgar, who are alone liable to corrupt any principle or opinion.
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—David Hume (1711–1776)