--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Kindness Before you know what kindness…" description: "\"“Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you he..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png" --- # Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must… ![“Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of…” quote by Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png) > ““Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness. How you ride and ride thinking the bus will never stop, the passengers eating maize and chicken will stare out the window forever. Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness, you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road. You must see how this could be you, how he too was someone who journeyed through the night with plans and the simple breath that kept him alive. Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. You must wake up with sorrow. You must speak to it till your voice catches the thread of all sorrows and you see the size of the cloth. Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore, only kindness that ties your shoes and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread, only kindness that raises its head from the crowd of the world to say It is I you have been looking for, and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend.”” [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True kindness emerges after experiencing loss and sorrow, revealing deep empathy and connection. **In simple terms:** Loss teaches us compassion. Key Takeaway Embrace hardship to grow kindness. Themes sorrow empathy growth compassion humanity Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - personal healing - community support - teaching empathy Key Concepts grief vulnerability interdependence Questions to Reflect On - What loss have you learned from? - How can you turn sorrow into kindness? A Different Perspective Kindness alone may not heal without confronting pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bread Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread-kindness-6154330/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Kindness Deepest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness-deepest-2640005/) [Kindness Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness-know-432484/) [Kindness Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness-makes-641943/) [Know Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-kindness-501002/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/before-you-know-kindness-as-the-deepest-thing-inside-you-must-know/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things-feel-the/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“Kindness is the only love I know. Kindness is the only love there is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/kindness-is-the-only-love-i-know-kindness-is-the-only-love-there-is/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Many of the worlds kindest people, do not know kindness themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewshycrazyness/many-of-the-worlds-kindest-people-do-not-know-kindness-themselves/) [EwshyCrazyness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewshycrazyness/) > [“Imagine the greatness this world would know if kindness were as contagious and enduring as the common cold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/imagine-the-greatness-this-world-would-know-if-kindness-were-as/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“You lose a certain kind of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. You lose your right to be a jaded cynic. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/you-lose-a-certain-kind-of-innocence-when-you-experience-this-type-of/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [Be careful with ur observation of me...so that u may know My kindness shouldn't be mistaken for a sign of weakness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ms-kee/be-careful-with-ur-observation-of-me-so-that-u-may-know-my-kindness/) [Ms Kee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ms-kee/) > [“and very carefully to them the truth of what you know, but with kindness in your heart. Have compassion for them, because not everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danzy-senna/and-very-carefully-to-them-the-truth-of-what-you-know-but-with/) [Danzy Senna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danzy-senna/) > [“You lose a certain type of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. You lose your right to be a jaded cynic. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/you-lose-a-certain-type-of-innocence-when-you-experience-this-type-of/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“Kindness is a source of relief to the soul of the giver, creating a sense of fortitude that is incomprehensible to those who do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janvier-chouteu-chando/kindness-is-a-source-of-relief-to-the-soul-of-the-giver-creating-a/) [Janvier Chouteu-Chando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janvier-chouteu-chando/) > [We know kindness alone won't solve the world's problems, but we do know it can impact a person's ability to get through their day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-germanotta/we-know-kindness-alone-won-t-solve-the-world-s-problems-but-we-do/) [Cynthia Germanotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-germanotta/) > [Will you continue doing goodness even if you know that no one will know them? Will you continue doing kindness even if you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/will-you-continue-doing-goodness-even-if-you-know-that-no-one-will/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/guard-well-within-yourself-that-treasure-kindness-know-how-to-give/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [Treat others with kindness. You never know what burdens people bear or what they are going through. You may have power to lift their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/treat-others-with-kindness-you-never-know-what-burdens-people-bear-or/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Live simply, care deeply and treat others with kindness. You never know what other people are going through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/live-simply-care-deeply-and-treat-others-with-kindness-you-never-know/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) ## More by Naomi Shihab Nye > [“No test can measure anything important.   On”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/no-test-can-measure-anything-important-on/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“But I know we need to keep warm here on earth And when your shawl is as thin as mine is, you tell stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/but-i-know-we-need-to-keep-warm-here-on-earth-and-when-your-shawl-is/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body, skins and moles and old scars, secret and public hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-support-all-people-on-earth-who-have-bodies-like-and-unlike-my-body/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“We walked where the ancient pier juts into the sea. Stood on the rim of the pool, by the circle of black boulders. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/we-walked-where-the-ancient-pier-juts-into-the-sea-stood-on-the-rim/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“rounded shoulders, the shoulders of women no one has touched for a long time. Men”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/rounded-shoulders-the-shoulders-of-women-no-one-has-touched-for-a/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [I can never see fashion models, lean angular cheeks, strutting hips and blooming hair, without thinking of the skulls at the catacombs in Lima,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-can-never-see-fashion-models-lean-angular-cheeks-strutting-hips-and/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [I am looking for the human who admits his flaws Who shocks the adversary By being kinder not stronger What would that be like?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-am-looking-for-the-human-who-admits-his-flaws-who-shocks-the/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“Remembering your mistakes more acutely than any minor success. This was the worst. The things that kept you up at night. Tip a waiter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/remembering-your-mistakes-more-acutely-than-any-minor-success-this/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“Grief is an ambush. You’re walking along feeling fine, look down, see a leaf, and begin to weep. —Jack”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/grief-is-an-ambush-you-re-walking-along-feeling-fine-look-down-see-a/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“Every day is a poetry day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/every-day-is-a-poetry-day/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [Teaching and writing are separate, but serve/feed one another in so many ways. Writing travels the road inward, teaching, the road out - helping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/teaching-and-writing-are-separate-but-serve-feed-one-another-in-so/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [What did exclusivity ever have to offer but a distorted, unrealistic view of the world? People who stuck only to their own kind were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/what-did-exclusivity-ever-have-to-offer-but-a-distorted-unrealistic/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [The thousands small birds of January in their smooth soaring cloud finding the trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/the-thousands-small-birds-of-january-in-their-smooth-soaring-cloud/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [When allowed to return to the class, your feelings of humility and lonesomeness will render you a much finer student and person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/when-allowed-to-return-to-the-class-your-feelings-of-humility-and/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [You know, those of us who leave our homes in the morning and expect to find them there when we go back - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/you-know-those-of-us-who-leave-our-homes-in-the-morning-and-expect-to/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) [Explore all 115 Naomi Shihab Nye quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) ## More Kindness quotes > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Each of our acts makes a statement as to our purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/each-of-our-acts-makes-a-statement-as-to-our-purpose/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [“I fight with love and kindness as my weapons and compassion as my defense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/i-fight-with-love-and-kindness-as-my-weapons-and-compassion-as-my/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [Kindness unlocks doors that were thought to be closed forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/kindness-unlocks-doors-that-were-thought-to-be-closed-forever/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Grace is the wonderful spirit that imbues every fiber of our being when we practice the fruits of the spirit: kindness, patience, understanding, forgiveness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-cayce/grace-is-the-wonderful-spirit-that-imbues-every-fiber-of-our-being/) [Edgar Cayce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-cayce/) > [Praise will come to those whose kindness leaves you without debt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-finn/praise-will-come-to-those-whose-kindness-leaves-you-without-debt/) [Neil Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-finn/) > [“A little bit of kindness goes a long way with women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-unsworth/a-little-bit-of-kindness-goes-a-long-way-with-women/) [Barry Unsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-unsworth/) > [The smartest people are the ones who can bring a little bit of heaven to earth by using there kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isiahnunn/the-smartest-people-are-the-ones-who-can-bring-a-little-bit-of-heaven/) [IsiahNunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isiahnunn/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“la ilaha ilallah muhammadun rasulullah, alaihi salatullah wa alihi wal ahibba "shine your mercy like the sun, and be gracious as the earth let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-al-habib/la-ilaha-ilallah-muhammadun-rasulullah-alaihi-salatullah-wa-alihi-wal/) [Talib al Habib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-al-habib/) > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-f-we-are-going-to-be-kind-let-it-be-out-of-simple-generosity-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 6,600 Kindness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness. How you ride and ride thinking the bus will never stop, the passengers eating maize and chicken will stare out the window forever. Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness, you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road. You must see how this could be you, how he too was someone who journeyed through the night with plans and the simple breath that kept him alive. Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. You must wake up with sorrow. You must speak to it till your voice catches the thread of all sorrows and you see the size of the cloth. Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore, only kindness that ties your shoes and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread, only kindness that raises its head from the crowd of the world to say It is I you have been looking for, and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Naomi Shihab Nye" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Kindness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/naomi-shihab-nye-4185_kindness_kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-r_805067.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment…” — Naomi Shihab Nye", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Naomi Shihab Nye", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Kindness Before you know what kindness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```