QuoteProject
Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote encourages us to speak well of others, particularly when they're not present to defend themselves.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe emphasizes the importance of generosity in our speech, particularly towards those who are not around to hear our words. By advocating for kind words, he suggests that our character is reflected not just in our actions, but also in how we discuss others in their absence. This approach fosters positive relationships and promotes a culture of respect and empathy.

Themes

GenerosityKindnessWordsPresenceAbsentRespect

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote in a speech about the importance of kindness in communication.

More from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
I am amazed to see how deliberately I have entangled myself step by step. To have seen my position so clearly, and yet to have acted so like a child!
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead

Similar quotes

Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
In the East they say suffering is avoidable and not necessary. Life is bliss! You know why? This is because wisdom, yoga and meditation are ways to avoid suffering which has not yet come.
Sri Sri Ravi ShankarRead
Right attitudes produces right action
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Who shall enumerate the many ways in which that costly piece of fixed capital, a human being , may be employed! More of him is wanted everywhere! Hunt, then, for some situation in which your humanity may be used.
Albert SchweitzerRead
It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not.
Jonathan SwiftRead
You are free when you gain back yourself,” Madame Wu said. β€œYou can be as free within these walls as you could be in the whole world. And how could you be free if, however far you wander, you still carry inside yourself the constant thought of him? See where you belong in the stream of life. Let it flow through you, cool and strong. Do not dam it with your two hands, lest he break the dam and so escape you. Let him go free, and you will be free.
Pearl S. BuckRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe | QuoteProject