"Kindness makes a fellow feel good whether it's being done to him or by him"
About this Quote
Kindness, Clark suggests, isn’t just a moral duty; it’s a two-way drug. The line is built like a simple folksy truth, but its real engine is a sly recalibration of who kindness is “for.” Most moral language puts the spotlight on the recipient: be kind because others need it. Clark flips the camera to the giver without sounding like he’s justifying selfishness. “Whether it’s being done to him or by him” makes the altruistic act psychologically self-interested, then dares you to notice that the distinction doesn’t actually matter to the feeling it produces.
The phrasing matters. “A fellow” is deliberately broad and casually masculine, the kind of mid-century American shorthand that implies this is practical wisdom, not sermonizing. It softens the idea that kindness can be transactional. And “feel good” is almost provocatively modest: not virtue, not salvation, not character-building. Just the immediate, bodily payoff. That understatement is the subtext; it smuggles in a behavioral argument. If kindness reliably rewards both sides, it becomes a sustainable habit rather than an occasional heroic gesture.
As a writer’s aphorism, it fits a culture that prized decency as social glue: small, repeatable acts that keep communities from curdling into suspicion. It also anticipates a modern, therapy-literate framing: your actions shape your mood. Clark’s intent isn’t to romanticize kindness, but to market it as emotionally efficient - a rare human exchange where everyone gets to leave with something.
The phrasing matters. “A fellow” is deliberately broad and casually masculine, the kind of mid-century American shorthand that implies this is practical wisdom, not sermonizing. It softens the idea that kindness can be transactional. And “feel good” is almost provocatively modest: not virtue, not salvation, not character-building. Just the immediate, bodily payoff. That understatement is the subtext; it smuggles in a behavioral argument. If kindness reliably rewards both sides, it becomes a sustainable habit rather than an occasional heroic gesture.
As a writer’s aphorism, it fits a culture that prized decency as social glue: small, repeatable acts that keep communities from curdling into suspicion. It also anticipates a modern, therapy-literate framing: your actions shape your mood. Clark’s intent isn’t to romanticize kindness, but to market it as emotionally efficient - a rare human exchange where everyone gets to leave with something.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
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