I will follow my logic, no matter where it goes, after it has consulted with my heart. If you ever come to a conclusion without calling the heart in, you will come to a bad conclusion.
Robert Green IngersollRead
Cruelty hardens and degrades, kindness reforms and ennobles.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Kindness has the power to uplift and improve behavior, while cruelty leads to a decline in character.
This quote by Robert Green Ingersoll emphasizes the transformative power of kindness in contrast to the destructive nature of cruelty. It suggests that acts of kindness can refine and elevate a person's character, leading to personal growth and positive change, while cruelty can lead to a hardening of the heart and a degradation of moral fiber.
Themes
KindnessCrueltyTransformationCharacterBehavior
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about building a compassionate community, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of kindness over cruelty.
More from Robert Green Ingersoll
All quotes βIf the guardians of society, the protectors of 'young persons,' could have had their way, we should have known nothing of Byron or Shelley. The voices that thrill the world would now be silent.
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The religion that has to be supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and a curse. The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket is hardly worth making.
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There is no slavery but ignorance.
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In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.
Robert Green IngersollRead
I believe that there is something far nobler than loyalty to any particular man. Loyalty to the truth as we perceive it - loyalty to our duty as we know it - loyalty to the ideals of our brain and heart - is, to my mind, far greater and far nobler than loyalty to the life of any particular man or God. . . .
Robert Green IngersollRead
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