--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The cheapest of all things is kindness…" description: "\"The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen Elizab..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/samuel-smiles-2037_all-things_the-cheapest-of-all-things-is-kindness-i_2009721.png" --- # The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise… ![“The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, and you have all men's hearts and purses.” quote by Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/samuel-smiles-2037_all-things_the-cheapest-of-all-things-is-kindness-i_2009721.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/samuel-smiles-2037_all-things_the-cheapest-of-all-things-is-kindness-i_2009721.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7be/samuel-smiles-2037_all-things_the-cheapest-of-all-things-is-kindness-i_2009721.png) > “The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, and you have all men's hearts and purses.” [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kindness is the most affordable virtue, requiring minimal effort yet yielding great influence and material reward when practiced widely **In simple terms:** Kindness costs little but yields great returns Key Takeaway Practice simple kindness daily Themes kindness influence economics Mood inspirational practical Type ethical motivational When to use this quote - customer service - community building - leadership - personal relationships Key Concepts social capital altruism Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate kindness into high-pressure environments? - What small acts of kindness can you start today? A Different Perspective Kindness may be undervalued in competitive contexts ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [All things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-things/) [Cheapest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheapest/) [Cheapest Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheapest-things-3582521/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Kindness Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness-exercise-3582522/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Purses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purses/) [Queen elizabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/queen-elizabeth/) [Queens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/queens/) [Sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrifice/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-sacrifice/) [Things Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-kindness-1943684/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [Win Hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/win-hearts-482310/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) ## Related quotes > [“Above all things If kindness is your king Then heaven will be yours before you reach your end”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-matthews-band-squirm/above-all-things-if-kindness-is-your-king-then-heaven-will-be-yours/) [Dave Matthews Band - Squirm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-matthews-band-squirm/) > [“Without any warning, tears filled my eyes. No one had ever given me such a kind and thoughtful gift before. I pictured Will going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-biggs-waller/without-any-warning-tears-filled-my-eyes-no-one-had-ever-given-me/) [Sharon Biggs Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-biggs-waller/) > [“Tell me I may dream of knowing you better." "It's kind of you to say those things." "No kindness, lady, when I speak but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hahn/tell-me-i-may-dream-of-knowing-you-better-it-s-kind-of-you-to-say/) [Rebecca Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hahn/) > [I've been inspired by some new people, I can say, from different companies and from just different walks of life, who've said so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-e/i-ve-been-inspired-by-some-new-people-i-can-say-from-different/) [Big E](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-e/) > [“To win the hearts of beautiful creatures, your stories must always be told with a joyful face, full of sweetness and love, seen at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-auliq-ice/to-win-the-hearts-of-beautiful-creatures-your-stories-must-always-be/) [Oscar Auliq-Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-auliq-ice/) > [You can't win the hearts and minds of the masses unless you inspire them - you must lift their spirits and enliven their hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-silva/you-can-t-win-the-hearts-and-minds-of-the-masses-unless-you-inspire/) [Jason Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-silva/) > [Love does not need any qualification, have a beautiful heart to win the other hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag/love-does-not-need-any-qualification-have-a-beautiful-heart-to-win/) [Anurag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag/) > [Music is unique because you can get behind enemy lines a little bit, get into people's houses and into their heads, on their stereos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/music-is-unique-because-you-can-get-behind-enemy-lines-a-little-bit/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [There is only one way to win hearts and that is to make oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-only-one-way-to-win-hearts-and-that-is-to-make-oneself-like/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Win hearts, and you have all men's hands and purses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cecil-1st-baron-burghley/win-hearts-and-you-have-all-men-s-hands-and-purses/) [William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cecil-1st-baron-burghley/) > [If you want to win hearts, sow the seeds of Love. If you want heaven, stop scattering thorns on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-you-want-to-win-hearts-sow-the-seeds-of-love-if-you-want-heaven/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I do think that music has a special ability to get behind enemy lines and win hearts and minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/i-do-think-that-music-has-a-special-ability-to-get-behind-enemy-lines/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/what-is-uttered-from-the-heart-alone-will-win-the-hearts-of-others-to/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [To win hearts, smile kindly on people's weaknesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/to-win-hearts-smile-kindly-on-people-s-weaknesses/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Convince people and you win their minds. Inspire people and you win their hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-kaufman/convince-people-and-you-win-their-minds-inspire-people-and-you-win/) [Ron Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-kaufman/) ## More by Samuel Smiles > [Biographies of great, but especially of good men are most instructive and useful as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/biographies-of-great-but-especially-of-good-men-are-most-instructive/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The women of the poorer classes make sacrifices, and run risks, and bear privations, and exercise patience and kindness to a degree that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-women-of-the-poorer-classes-make-sacrifices-and-run-risks-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/self-respect-is-the-noblest-garment-with-which-a-man-can-clothe/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but of the nature of learning; whereas, the experience gained from actual life is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-experience-gathered-from-books-though-often-valuable-is-but-of/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-apprenticeship-of-difficulty-is-one-which-the-greatest-of-men/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-spirit-of-self-help-is-the-root-of-all-genuine-growth-in-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-wise-man-if-he-would-live-at-peace-with-others-he-will-bear-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Those who are the most persistent, and work in the true spirit, will invariably be the most successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/those-who-are-the-most-persistent-and-work-in-the-true-spirit-will/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The iron rail proved a magicians' road. It virtually reduced England to a sixth of its size. It brought the country nearer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-iron-rail-proved-a-magicians-road-it-virtually-reduced-england-to/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/this-extraordinary-metal-the-soul-of-every-manufacture-and-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/man-cannot-aspire-if-he-looked-down-if-he-rise-he-must-look-up/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-life-of-a-good-man-is-at-the-same-time-the-most-eloquent-lesson/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [It is a grand old name, that of gentleman, and has been recognized as a rank and power in all stages of society. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/it-is-a-grand-old-name-that-of-gentleman-and-has-been-recognized-as-a/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [“Many are the lives of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully influenced civilization and progress as the more fortunate Great whose names are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/many-are-the-lives-of-men-unwritten-which-have-nevertheless-as/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) [Explore all 189 Samuel Smiles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## More All things quotes > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-d-nadauld/standing-as-a-witness-in-all-things-means-being-kind-in-all-things/) [Margaret D. 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The universal Cause, by knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-dionysius/god-does-not-possess-a-private-knowledge-of-himself-and-a-separate/) [Pope Dionysius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-dionysius/) [Browse all 2,486 All things quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-things/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. 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