Maxine Hong Kingston Quotes

The truth is that goodness is hardwired in humanity.

Humans are not really very humane.

Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

My belief is that people are innately good and innately do want to help their fellow man.

I liked human beings, but I did not love human nature.

Human nature is disposed to do good.

Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion

Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.

I've always believed that humans are good at heart. But there's always the exception.

I am a person who believes in the good of people and who may have had things influence them to a certain degree, but deep down I think most people are good and would like to be good.

Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.

The belief that we some day shall be able to prevent war is, to me, one with the belief in the possibility of making humanity really human.

Surly bleeding hearts are better than bleeding bodies.

I believe people are wonderful. The vast majority of people have never hurt anybody in their lives.

I have noticed that when chickens quit quarreling over their food they often find that there is enough for all of them. I wonder if it might not be the same with the human race

Human nature is not nearly as bad as it has been thought to be.

Jealousy, greed, fear. We're all full of these things. But also love and compassion. If you saw a drowning baby, it wouldn't matter if you were wearing a tuxedo on the way to your own wedding. You'd jump in to save him.

Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.

Inside all people there is love, also the need to take care of the other man who is his brother. Inside everyone is a savage, but there is also happening tenderness and compassion.

He can kill anything for need but he could not even hurt a feeling for pleasure.

Human beings seem unable to live without war, but they are also unable to live without love.

Human beings are struggling, and so they are egoists. But it's wrong to say that they are wholy cruel - it's a deformed view.

Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.

I'd like to believe that I would be able to give in the same way Mandela did, but in reality, I don't know whether that is true. It is much more likely that I would be left with an immense sense of injustice and immense desire for revenge.

The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man; insomuch, that if it issue not towards men, it will take unto other living creatures; as it is seen in the Turks, cruel people, who, nevertheless, are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds.