J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes

It is mercy, not justice or courage or even heroism, that alone can defeat evil.

But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!

Righteous is the one who was able to demonstrate compassion in face of human suffering.

Don't jump on a man unless he is down.

As for ourselves, yes, we must be meek, bear injustice, malice, rash judgment. We must turn the other cheek, give up our cloak, go a second mile.

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

I shy away from showing cruelty on the page. A lot of the violence in my books actually happens off stage. The police come on to the scene after the event has occurred.

To repay evils with kindness is the religion I was taught to practise, and this will forever be my rule.

The ability to forgive is one of man's greatest achievements.

You pity the fool because you don't want to beat up a fool! You know, pity is between sorry and mercy. See, if you pity him, you know, you won't have to beat him up. So that's why I say fools, you gotta give another chance because they don't know no better. That's why I pity them!

I definitely wouldn't wish death on anyone.

I'm not fond of kicking a man when he's down.

What is more harmful than any vice? Practical sympathy and pity for all the failures and all the weak : Christianity.

Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.

Mankind was my business... charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business.

Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same -- with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.

It's wrong to hurt even bad people. Because they don't know any better, and because bad people sometimes become good.

I'll not hurt thee, says Uncle Toby, rising with the fly in his hand. Go, he says, opening the window to let it escape. Why should I hurt thee? This world is surely wide enough to hold both thee and me.

The essence of Buddhism is if you can, help others. If not, then at least refrain from hurting others.

Be persecuted, rather than be a persecutor. Be crucified, rather than be a crucifier. Be treated unjustly, rather than treat anyone unjustly. Be oppressed, rather than be an oppressor. Be gentle rather than zealous. Lay hold of goodness, rather than justice.

A tender-hearted and compassionate disposition, which inclines men to pity and feel the misfortunes of others, and which is, even for its own sake, incapable of involving any man in ruin and misery, is of all tempers of mind the most amiable; and though it seldom receives much honor, is worthy of the highest.

One ought not to return injustice, nor do evil to anybody in the world, no matter what one may have suffered from them.

Can you be compassionate even to those who have no compassion? If so, there is no finer karma that you can create.

My feeling is that there is nothing in life but refraining from hurting others, and comforting those who are sad.

If it weren't for the message of mercy and pity in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, I wouldn't want to be a human being. I would just as soon be a rattlesnake.