"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible"
About this Quote
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible" doesn’t plead for niceness; it issues a quiet ultimatum. As a spiritual and political leader in long exile, the Dalai Lama isn’t speaking from the comfort of theory. He’s offering a discipline for living under pressure, where bitterness would be the most understandable - and the most corrosive - response.
The line works because it narrows the moral escape routes. The first sentence sounds conditional, even practical: whenever possible. It nods to the reader’s internal lawyer, the part that insists kindness is a luxury reserved for easy days. Then the second sentence snaps the loophole shut. It is always possible. Not always convenient. Not always rewarded. Not always safe. Possible. The rhetorical move is deceptively simple: redefine kindness as a choice available in every moment, regardless of what you can’t control.
The subtext is less Hallmark than strategy. Kindness here isn’t softness; it’s sovereignty. If you can choose your response, you can’t be wholly conquered by circumstance. In a Buddhist frame, that’s also a claim about agency: suffering may arrive uninvited, but cruelty is optional. Read politically, it’s even sharper: nonviolence survives by refusing the enemy the satisfaction of remaking you in their image.
The quote endures because it flatters no one. It challenges the modern habit of outsourcing ethics to mood, outrage, or exhaustion. Kindness becomes not a personality trait, but an act of control in a world eager to take it away.
The line works because it narrows the moral escape routes. The first sentence sounds conditional, even practical: whenever possible. It nods to the reader’s internal lawyer, the part that insists kindness is a luxury reserved for easy days. Then the second sentence snaps the loophole shut. It is always possible. Not always convenient. Not always rewarded. Not always safe. Possible. The rhetorical move is deceptively simple: redefine kindness as a choice available in every moment, regardless of what you can’t control.
The subtext is less Hallmark than strategy. Kindness here isn’t softness; it’s sovereignty. If you can choose your response, you can’t be wholly conquered by circumstance. In a Buddhist frame, that’s also a claim about agency: suffering may arrive uninvited, but cruelty is optional. Read politically, it’s even sharper: nonviolence survives by refusing the enemy the satisfaction of remaking you in their image.
The quote endures because it flatters no one. It challenges the modern habit of outsourcing ethics to mood, outrage, or exhaustion. Kindness becomes not a personality trait, but an act of control in a world eager to take it away.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
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