Kindness is the quality of being considerate, compassionate, generous, gentle, and caring towards others without expecting anything in return. Often described as a virtue, kindness is also a strength—in fact, it may be one of humanity's greatest superpowers. Kindness enriches our relationships with friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Kindness opens our hearts to perfect strangers, both those we encounter in our daily lives and those who live continents away. What's more, kindness is good for our health—a finding backed by numerous studies and brain science. Practicing kindness increases levels of oxytocin and serotonin, the "feel-good" hormones, and decreases feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. Perhaps best of all, kindness is contagious: kind acts often have a ripple effect.

So, why not make a pact with yourself to be a kinder person? And whenever you need a little encouragement or gentle reminder, turn to these words from authors who understand the nature and power of kindness and express it quite remarkably.

The universal nature of kindness

• "There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham." -Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

• "People shouldn't have to earn kindness. They should have to earn cruelty." - Maggie Stiefvater,Forever

• “Being kind never goes out of style.” - Eleanor Estes, The Hundred Dresses

• "There is no choice between being kind to others, and being kind to ourselves. It is the same thing. " - Piero Ferrucci, The Power of Kindness

• "Kindness adds sweetness to everything. It makes life’s capabilities blossom and fills them with fragrance." - Lawrence G. Lovasik, The Hidden Power of Kindness

• "You don’t have to be perfect to be a good person. " - Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

• "It seems to me that no matter what religion you subscribe to, acts of kindness are the stepping-stones to making the world a better place—because we become better people in it. " - Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart

• "Love is a verb, and kindness is its practice." - C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

• "For there is nothing better than kindness; it blesses both those who give and those who receive." - Edwin Arlington Robinson, Captain Craig

• "What do you want to be when you grow up? Kind, said the boy. " - Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

• “Kindness is the quietest thing in the world; it just flows.” - Kiera Cass, The Selection

• "All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries." - Kathryn Stockett, The Help

• "People want to be good. Deep down. Kind. The problem of course is that it isn't always possible to be kind to idiots, because they're idiots." - Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

Kindness as a force for transformation

• "You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you." - Debbie Macomber, One Simple Act

• "To reprove a harm-doer, put him to shame by doing a good deed in return." - Thiruvalluvar, Thirukkural

• "Time itself is created through deeds of true kindness." - Dara Horn, The World to Come

• "Being kind is the simplest way to become who we really are." - Piero Ferrucci, The Power of Kindness

• "We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." - Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

• "I’m always trying to think of beautiful things I can share with you about the world, but usually you can’t see them. This one you could enjoy just as much as I could, and so I wanted you to." - Catherine Ryan Hyde, Have You Seen Luis Velez?

• “Sometimes, all it takes is a simple act of kindness to change someone’s life forever.” - Jojo Moyes, Me Before You

• "One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls." -Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

• “Some people don’t what to do with an act of kindness.” - Jodi Picoult, Salem Falls

• "And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him." - Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

• "When we are kind, we create a ripple effect that spreads to others. " - Pat Zietlow Miller, Be Kind

Practical expressions of kindness

• "Anger is effortless. Kindness is hard. Try to exert yourself. " - Sue Monk Kidd, The Book of Longings

• "You can’t be kind to everyone all the time, but if you show a little kindness, it makes a big difference." - Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

• "There is no wrong way to perform an act of kindness." - Catherine Ryan Hyde, Pay It Forward

• "When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

• "You can't worry about the rest of the world, never mind the rest of the universe. All you can do is look to your left and your right and try to be kind to whoever is there." - Rowan Coleman, We Are All Made of Stars

• "If the primary way we’ve been taught Kindness looks a lot like confetti, then we will continue to treat it like the dollar-store party poppers that are momentarily exciting, but ultimately cheap. Short-lived. Cute, but usually inconsequential. " - Houston Kraft, Deep Kindness

• "He took the Velveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the Rabbit a little nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy, for he was a kind-hearted little boy and he liked Bunny to be comfortable." - Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

• "Sometimes, you have to be brave enough to be kind." - Kristin Hannah, The Great Alone

• "Sometimes I believe we would all be better off if we always treated people like this was the last time we were ever going to see them." - Chris Bohjalian, The Sleepwalker

• "Be a little kinder than you have to." - E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

• "Try your best to make goodness attractive. That’s one of the toughest assignments you’ll ever be given." - Gavin Edwards, Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever

• “No act of kindness is ever wasted, especially when it’s given with a heart full of love.” - Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys

• “A little kindness goes a long way.” - Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

Kindness as compassion and a strength

• "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." -Wendy Mass, The Candymakers

• "What virtue is there in a man who demonstrates goodness because he has been bred to it? It is his habit from youth. But a man who has known unkindness and want, for him to be kind and charitable to those who have been the cause of his misfortunes, that is a virtuous man." -Deanna Raybourn, Silent on the Moor

• "You know, some things don't matter that much ... Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart—now, that matters." - Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

• "It’s never polite to revel in the suffering of others." - TJ Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

• "Because I haven't yet learned the simplest and most important thing of all: the world is difficult, and we are all breakable. So just be kind." - Caitlin Moran, How to Build a Girl

• "Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver." - Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

• “To be kind to one another, to be gentle with the hearts of others, is to find joy within your own.” - V. E. Schwab, Vicious

• "When you are attracted to people, it’s because of the details. Their kindness. Their eyes. The fact that they can get you to laugh when you need it the most." -Jodi Picoult, Sing You Home

  "Sometimes one good break is all you need." - Laura Schroff, An Invisible Thread

• “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” - Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

• "But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword." - Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth

• "You don't always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it too." - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

• "Our souls may be consumed by shadows, but that doesn't mean we have to behave as monsters." - Emm Cole, The Short Life of Sparrows

• "To belittle, you have to be little." - Kahlil Gibran,The Prophet

• "Then I imagined a lifetime of having to cry to get him to be kind, and I went back to no again." - Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

• “When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” - R. J. Palacio, Wonder