The Garden of Eleos

A collection of quotes on kindness,
mostly from fellow bloggers.

Kindness is a way of knowing people beyond our understanding of them.

From How Kindness Became our Secret Pleasure

"It's taken care of." He had this look of disbelief. His response was "How?". I responded, "I asked nicely."

[…] I sent a little message to apologize saying that it would be with pleasure next time. I received this message in return: “Thank you for contacting me directly to apologize for not coming, it’s an attention I appreciate”

Translated from The impact of small courtesy gestures is underestimated

The opportunity is to slow down and listen. To pull over and to tend to the need. It is crying out from the body: "This is too much for me!"

How would it look to really hear this message? To honor the messenger?

The feeling of overwhelm is an opportunity—to come back. To reconnect with ourselves as we are.

Extracted from When Overwhelmed, Slow Down

“Sorry about Friday. I completely blew it.”

“It’s okay,” he replied. “We’ve all done it.” He paused for a moment. “But what did you learn?”

I talked about the need for proper QA. About thoroughly testing my changes. About taking the time to make sure the job gets done right. After a few minutes, he held up his hand.

“Great. It sounds like you get it. I know that you can do better.”

From Be Kind