kindness
The nicest thing in the world you can do for anybody is let them help you.
Sweet Thursday (New York: Penguin Classics, 2008), rev. edition, 120.
Do all the other things, the ambitious things—travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop)—but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness. Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial. That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality—your soul, if you will—is as bright and shining as any that has ever been. Bright as Shakespeare’s, bright as Gandhi’s, bright as Mother Theresa’s. Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly.
Convocation speech for the graduates of Syracuse University, 2013, reprinted on The 6th Floor Blog, New York Times, July 31, 2013. Full text here.
He’s such a generous spirit, you’d be embarrassed to behave in a small way around him.
Describing writer George Saunders, in “George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You’ll Read This Year,” by Joel Lovell, The New York Times Magazine, January 3, 2013.
The nicest thing in the world you can do for anybody is let them help you.
Sweet Thursday (New York: Penguin Classics, 2008), rev. edition, 120.
My mother wasn’t a very patient woman. If I complained about being lonely or bored, she’d tell me to go help someone, anyone. To this day, when I start feeling sorry for myself, I look for a good deed to do.
“The Smartest Advice I Ever Got,” O, The Oprah Magazine, May 18, 2010.