Frederick William Faber Quotes

To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.

All people are endowed with the faculty of compassion, and for this reason can develop the humanitarian spirit.

Compassion is not a passion; rather a noble disposition of the soul, made ready to receive love, mercy, and other charitable passions.

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

Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.

I knew a homeless guy who'd give all the copper coins that people gave him to charity. So I think there's something that makes us want to give. For me, it's quite a selfish luxury: you feel enlivened, deepened and self-nurtured by generosity.

Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.

We are not by nature cruel.

Nineteen centuries would have been worth very little if we had not made some advance in welcoming the stranger, in feeding the hungry, in clothing the naked, and in caring for the prisoner.

He was a patient man, a kind man, a man who cared about animals and human beings, all qualities not to be devalued, but James Herriot was not a saint. I tried so hard to play against some of the scripts that implied that he was a saint, but I don't think I was always altogether successful.

What makes us different from other species is our capacity for compassion and empathy with the struggles of other people.

We do pray for mercy, and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.

We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate. But really, true charity is much, much more. Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again.

It is to the credit of human nature that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates.

In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold in bondage their fellow men, not knowing what they do.

Mercy, she had discovered, made mad alchemy: a drop of it could dilute a lake of hate.

I see compassion may become a justice, though it be a weakness, I confess, and nearer a vice than a virtue.

Mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death.

I prefer to make a mistake because I am too kind than to perform miracles without any kindness.

Caring for others is an expression of what it means to be fully human.

Kindness isn't just a virtue, its a necessity.

I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.

Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's side.

Kindness is virtue itself.

I believe that in the end that it is kindness and accommodation that are all the catalysts for real change.