- Kindness is the best form of justice. [Attributed to Debasish Mridha.]
Kindness is a step beyond mere obligation to others, though one could say that we are duty-bound to be kind to everyone. This is the finest and most enduring lesson that I took from my childhood background as a Roman Catholic. “From him who has much, much will be expected” applied to everything, and produced a world view that held that I was responsible to do all that I could do.
So for me, responsibility does not end at mere respect but extends to loving kindness and all its attributes, including an ethic of generous service. I cannot force anyone to live this way. As with everything else in this model, it an invitation, of which I just often remind myself.
Real
True Narratives
- Heather McGhee, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (One World, 2021): “There is a striking clarity to this book; there is also a depth of kindness in it that all but the most churlish readers will find moving.”
- Mark Epstein, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life (Penguin Press, 2022): writing about the differences between traditional psychotherapy and Buddhist meditation, the author “seeks to uncover the fundamental wisdom both worldviews share, and to show, as a practical matter, how it might help us wriggle free from the places we get stuck on the road to fulfillment.”
Imaginary
Music: songs and other short pieces
- What begins in kindness sometimes ends in far more: The Dixie Chicks, Travelin’ Soldier
- Paul Simon, “Tenderness”
- Nawang Khechog, Universal Dance of Kindness; Peace Through Kindness; Healing Through Kindness; The Human Heart Is for Kindness; Kindness As the Key
- Yungchen Lhamo, “Loving Kindness”
- Yungchen Lhamo, “Your Kindness”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Especially in his later years, Louis Armstrong became an ambassador for music and in particular for American jazz. His persona exuded love and kindness, which were reflected in his music.
- Live with his All-Stars, May 8, 1954
- 1955 on The Colgate Comedy Show
- 1956: from the film “High Society”
- 1957 on The Edsel Show
- 1959 on The Bing Crosby Show
- 1962: Paris Jazz Concert, etc.
- 1963 interview in San Francisco
- Basin Street Blues, in Australia, 1964
- Satchmo in East Berlin, 1965
- 1965 on ABC
- At Fort Hood in 1967
- 1968 on the Bell Telephone Hour
- A collection of tracks
- What a Wonderful World – a marvelous expression of the musician and the man
Symphonies by Georg Christoph Wagenseil:
- WV 351 in C Major
- WV 361 in C Major
- WV 374 in D Major
- WV 393 in E Major
- WV 398 in F Major
- WV 413 in G Major
- WV 418 in G Minor
- WV 421 in A Major
- WV 432 in A Major
- WV 438 in B flat Major
- WV 441 in B flat Major
Napoléon-Henri Reber’s piano trios:
- No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 12
- No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 16
- No. 4 In D Major, Op. 25, “Sérénade”
- No. 5 in C Major, Op. 30
- No. 6 in E Major, Op. 34
- No. 7 in A Minor, Op. 37
Bériot:
- Violin Concerto No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 32
- Violin Concerto No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 44
- Violin Concerto No. 5 in D Major, Op. 55
Other compositions:
- Fauré, Piano Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, 15 (1879): many musicologists suspect that Fauré composed in deliberate counterpoint to Wagner’s bluster.
- Foote, Piano Quartet in C Major, Op. 23 (1890): Foote’s biographer Nicholas Tawa described this quartet as benevolent and compassionate.
- Foote, String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 4 (1883): Tawa characterized this work as warm, direct, simple and clear.
- De Fossa, 3 Quartets for 2 Guitars, Violin & Bass, Op. 19: No. 1, in D major (1. Allegro moderato; 2. ; 3. ; 4 Minuet. ); No. 2, in E major (1. ; 2. Tema con variazioni. Adagio; 3. Allegro; 4. Finale. Allegro); No. 3, in A major (1. Lento sensible e sostenuto; 2. ; 3. ; 4. Minuet - Allegro, Trio, Minuet; 5. Rondo. Allegro).
- Liszt, Les préludes (Poème symphonique 3), S97 (1863)
- Weber, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 11, J98 (1810)
- Dvořák, Symphonic Variations, Op. 78, B170 (1877)
- Josef Mysliveček, complete violin concertos (8)
- Raga Chandrakauns usually is portrayed in visual art as a fair-skinned man, talking sweetly, wearing a leaf necklace and carring lotus and blossoms; or as a pale moon-god with a lotus in each hand. Here are performances by Sharma, Chaurasia and Dagar.
Albums:
- Deuter, “Sun Spirit”
- Zach Brock, “Almost never was”
- Jane Ira Bloom, “Mental Weather”
Film and Stage
- Zelary: in World-War-II Czechoslovakia, circumstances force a sophisticated young woman to marry a rough-hewn woodcutter. At first she is despondent but his kindness wins her loyalty and her heart.
- Deeds Goes to Town, about a manwho inherits a fortune and uses it to help others
- National Velvet: the young-girl protagonist shows kindnesstoward the horse and toward the injured and embittered jockey whose place she takes upon the horse
Poetry
- Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”
Fictional Narratives
Stories, from the dark side:
- Manuel Muñoz, The Consequences: Stories (Graywolf Press 2022): “A common thread throughout the collection is the choice between kindness and cruelty, whether through violence or disregard.”