We do not know everything. Awareness of this fact is an important first step in the intellectual domain. The psychic task which a person can and must set for himself, is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity, without panic and undue fear. [Erich Fromm] Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those…
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Value for Sunday of Week 26 in the season of Ripening
Being Kind
Kindness can be seen as generosity of spirit, put into action.
- . . . that best portion of a man’s life, / His little, nameless, unremembered acts / Of kindness and love. [William Wordsworth]
- Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. [attributed to Albert Schweitzer, and also as a Chinese proverb]
- Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough. [Franklin D. Roosevelt]
- 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.”
- Julian Borger, I Seek a Kind Person: My Father, Seven Children and the Adverts That Helped Them Escape the Holocaust (John Murray Press, 2025): “. . . Julian Borger tells the riveting story of seven children who escaped wartime Austria thanks to a British newspaper.”
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Novels:
- Lauren Grodstein, We Must Not Think of Ourselves: A Novel (Algonquin Books, 2023): “Can sparks of human kindness, however tiny, fend off hopelessness in the face of evil?”
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.”
Poetry
- Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Especially in his later years, Louis Armstrong became a musical ambassador, 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 (29’)
- Live in Stuttgart, West Germany, February 15, 1955 (29’)
- The Great Chicago Concert, June 1, 1956 (113’)
- Satchmo the Great (1957) (64’)
- “Louis and the Good Book” album (1958) (62’)
- Live concert in Stuttgart in 1959 (59’)
- “Satchmo Plays King Oliver” album (1960) (44’)
- “The Great Reunion” album, with Duke Ellington (1961) (31’)
- Paris jazz concert in 1962 (76’)
- BP super show 1963 (56’)
- Live in Australia in 1964 (55’)
- Live in East Berlin in 1965 (110’)
- Show of the Week (1968) (50’)
- “What a Wonderful World” became a signature song that expressed the man and his music.
Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces (Lyriske småstykker) are brief works for solo piano. “They are basically simple pieces, but beautifully fashioned. . . they are simple in the way that Mozart can be simple. . .” “The pieces form a poetic piano diary running through his life. There are banalities, here and there, but the boldness and tenderness of the melodic ideas are paramount.”
- Håkon Austbø's recording of the complete lyric pieces (169’)
- Chris Bremmer's recording of Grieg’s complete lyric pieces (194’)
- Alexander Goldenweiser’s recording of Grieg’s complete lyric pieces
- Emil Gilels, selections
- Sviatoslav Richter, selections from Greece, 1993 (80’)
- Walter Gieseking, 31 lyric pieces ( 86’)
- Peter Donohoe, 27 lyric pieces in volume 1 (83’)
Georg Christoph Wagenseil was a Viennese composer whose life began late in the Baroque era and ended early in the Classical era. His compositions reflected the outward gentility of that time and place. L’Orfeo Barockorchester (62’) and Salieri Chamber Orchestra (74’) have released albums of his symphonies, which Wagenseil composed most likely, in the 1760s or thereabouts.
Napoléon-Henri Reber’s piano trios display the ethic that characterizes most piano trios, particularly those of genteel society in 19th-century France.
- No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 12 (1846) (approx. 26’)
- No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 16 (1850) (approx. 30’) “provides a sound picture of the style appreciated during the Second Empire.”
- No. 4 in D Major, Op. 25, “Sérénade” (1862) (approx. 19’) “was given the nickname ‘Serenade’ most likely because of its second movement, Allegretto, un poco andantino, which begins with the muted strings playing a lovely song like melody over the soft arpeggio accompaniment in the piano. The music has great beauty and delicacy.”
- No. 5 in C Major, Op. 30 (approx. 17’)
- No. 6 in E Major, Op. 34 (1876) (approx. 23’): “The music has a timeless dimension, clearly of the mid-romantic era, but with its roots traceable to the late 18th century.”
- No. 7 in A Minor, Op. 37 (approx. 19’)
Other compositions:
- Arthur Foote, Piano Quartet in C Major, Op. 23 (1890) (approx. 29’): Foote’s biographer Nicholas Tawa described this quartet as benevolent and compassionate.
- Foote, String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 4 (1883) (approx. 30’): Tawa characterized this work as warm, direct, simple and clear.
- Carl Maria von Weber, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 11, J 98 (1810) (approx. 19-21’) (list of recorded performances)
- Antonín Dvořák, Symphonic Variations, Op. 78, B 170 (1877) (approx. 22-23’) (list of recorded performances), have been described as “Jubilant Explorations of an 'Impossible' Theme”.
- Josef Mysliveček, complete violin concertos (8)
- Raga Chandrakauns is a Hindustani classical raag for late evening. It is portrayed in visual art as a fair-skinned man, talking sweetly, wearing a leaf necklace and carrying lotus and blossoms; or as a pale moon-god with a lotus in each hand. Here are performances by Shivkumar Sharma, Rashid Khan, Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, Nikhil Banerjee, and Bahauddin Dagar.
- Gerald Finzi, 5 Bagatelles, Op. 23A (1938-1945) (approx. 15-16’)
- C.P.E. Bach, Flute Concerti: in D minor, Wq 22 (1770s) (approx. 22-25’) (list of recorded performances); in A minor, Wq 166 (approx. 30’) (list of recorded performances); in A major (approx. 18’)
- Carl Philipp Stamitz, 6 Trios, Op. 14 (approx. 70’) are “elegant works for flute, violin, cello and harpsichord . . . mostly dwelling in the sunlit major . . .”
- Franz Berwald, Piano Concerto in D Major (1855) (approx. 21’) “can be equated with its soul-mate the Robert Schumann concerto. It is extremely romantic - scintillating grace with little or nothing of the vapid about it. The three movements are played without a break.”
- Johann Gottfried Eckard, keyboard works
- Louise Farrenc, Piano Trio No. 2 in D minor, Op. 34 (1844) (approx. 26’)
- Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Piano Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 69 (1931-1932) (approx. 26-28’) displays a sunny optimism and brazen romanticism. The voices gently support each other. “It exudes Romantic candour and contrapuntal richness, full of lively themes and with a colourful atmosphere.” The work is generous — overflowing with melody where it could be more economical. It's affirming — it doesn't challenge or disturb; it affirms the listener's capacity for unguarded pleasure. It's present — the music doesn't reach toward distant transcendence or ironic distance; it's right there with you. It's reliable — it never breaks faith with its own lyrical impulse, never undercuts itself, never withholds what it's offering. And it's all of this toward the listener — the work treats whoever is listening with care, the way a kind host treats a guest.
Albums:
- Deuter, “Sun Spirit” (2000) (57’) “celebrates the essence of the sun . . .”
- Zach Brock, “Almost never was” (2012) (63’)
- Jane Ira Bloom, “Mental Weather” (2006) (43’) “. . . skirt(s) the edges of the avant without losing sight of the importance of melody . . .”
- Yungchen Lhamo, “One Drop of Kindness” (2023) (39’)
- Eric Bibb & Needed Time, “Spirit and the Blues” (1994) (61’) is “a bubbling pot of authentic bottleneck spirituals and memorable hum-alongs . . .”
- Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, “Echo” (2022) (44’) and “Clychau Dibon” (2014) (52’): harp and kora play together, tenderly.
Music: songs and other short pieces
- What begins in kindness sometimes ends in far more: The Dixie Chicks, “Travelin’ Soldier” (lyrics)
- Paul Simon, “Tenderness” (lyrics)
- 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”
Visual Arts
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
