Mary Mercedes, a teacher and Dominican Sister, explains in this excerpt from A Book of Courtesy why consideration is the heart of all good manners.
Lama Surya Das, founder and spiritual director of the Dzogchen Foundation, salutes the important role of generosity to foster unselfish thoughts about the well-being of others in this excerpt from Buddha Is As Buddha Does.
Monshu Koshin Ohtani, head of Jodo Shinshu in Japan, gives a down-to-earth understanding of a Pure Land Buddhist perspective on life in this excerpt from The Buddha's Wish for the World, which describes seven gifts requiring no possessions.
P.M. Forni, who teaches civility and Italian literature at Johns Hopkins University, reminds us that improving our interactions with others should be at the top of our agendas in this excerpt from Choosing Civility.
Joseph Telushkin, a spiritual leader and scholar, tells us that the best way to emulate God is to be a blessing to others in this excerpt from A Code of Jewish Ethics.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and a revered teacher for people of many faiths, advises us to treat animals with kindness in this excerpt from The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace.
John Ryan Haule, a Jungian analyst, celebrates the generosity of giving to society's outcasts and downtrodden in this excerpt from The Ecstasies of St. Francis.
Stephanie Dowrick — an Australian bestselling author, psychoanalyst, and an interfaith minister — offers a rousing and multidimensional look at the spiritual practice of kindness as a catalyst to connection, engagement, empathy, and comfort in this excerpt from Everyday Kindness.
Darlene Cohen, a Zen teacher who counsels chronic pain clients, offers a practice for being deliberately selfish in order to discover genuine unstinting behavior in this excerpt from Finding a Joyful Life in the Heart of Pain.
Sharon Salzberg, an Insight Meditation retreat leader and author, calls kindness the fuel that helps us walk our talk lovingly in this excerpt from The Force of Kindness. She points out the necessity of loosening our grasping and clinging nature for a more radiant way of living in an excerpt from The Kindness Handbook
Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian theologian, reveals in this excerpt from Francis of Assisi how St. Francis and his brothers employed an explicit denial of accusation, censure, and condemnation to liberate others from hatred and violence.
Joyce Rupp, author of many books on Catholic spirituality, gives us a wonderful litany suffused with gratitude for God's generosity in this excerpt from Fresh Bread and Other Stories of Spiritual Nourishment.
Amy Eilberg, the first woman ordained as a Conservative rabbi, boldly speaks out for human kindness as "the core of peacemaking practice" in this excerpt from From Enemy to Friend.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, provides an erudite description of the spiritual significance of the Sufi practice of adab in this excerpt from The Garden of Truth.
Jim Wallis, an evangelical Christian and a leading figure at the crossroads of religion and politics in America today, shows how the church in the United States can offer a message of hope and reconciliation to a cynical nation in this excerpt from God's Politics.
Dwight Currie, co-owner and operator of Misty Valley Books, advises us to give others center stage in this excerpt from How We Behave at the Feast.
Les Kaye, a teacher at Kannon Do Zen Center, probes the Zen Buddhist philosophy of courtesy as a selfless service of others in this excerpt from Joyously through the Days.
Harold Koenig — founder and co-director of Duke's Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health — delivers a succinct and worthwhile overview of ways to practice kindness during the rigors of everyday activities in this excerpt from Kindness and Joy.
Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder and spiritual director of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, suggests ways of sending out blessings to the world as a kindness practice in this excerpt from Life Visioning.
Joan Duncan Oliver, an award-winning magazine journalist and author, writes in this excerpt from The Meaning of Nice that manners are "a kind of diplomacy" that enables us to find our way through life's ups and downs.
Robert V. Taylor, an internationally known spiritual leader, rejoices in the art of polishing the world through the practice of kindness in this excerpt from A New Way to Be Human.
Kate Lawrence, a Zen student exploring both Christian and Buddhist practices, takes a hard look at rudeness and calls upon us to bolster societal courtesy as a stay against chaos in this excerpt from The Practical Peacemaker.
Treleg Kyabgon, director of Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in Australia, reminds us not to take the kindness of others for granted in this excerpt from The Practice of Lojong.
Christine Carter, sociologist and happiness expert at UC-Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. delineates the ideal of giving in this excerpt from Raising Happiness.
Rami Shapiro, a rabbi recognized as one of the most creative figures in contemporary American Judaism, challenges us in this excerpt from The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness to ponder the legend that says the tipping point for maintaining human life is 36 people practicing lovingkindness at any moment.
Frederick Buechner, a Presbyterian minister and prolific writer, pleads for us to be kind to our nation — especially its holiest dreams — in this excerpt from Secrets in the Dark.
Joan Chittister, a Benedictine sister with an ecumenical outreach and vision, probes in this excerpt from The Ten Commandments the many meanings of stealing in a world where wealth and poverty continue to clash as the ideal of sharing stands outside on the margins.
Michael Norton, founder of the Directory of Social Change, gives readers many different ways to serve others in actions and projects of love, kindness, and peace in this excerpt from 365 Ways to Change the World.
Geshe Michael Roach, a fully ordained monk and teacher of Buddhism, explains that "you cannot enter the door of yoga without kindness and compassion for others" in this excerpt from The Tibetan Book of Yoga.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the beloved and revered Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, reveals in this excerpt from Two Treasures how every person, no matter how poor or rich, can practice generosity.
Michael Garrett, a student and teacher of the Cherokee Way, reminds us in this excerpt from Walking on the Wind to ask permission before we assume we can take something from nature
Michael Ungar, an internationally recognized expert on the resilience in youth, gives parents a lively list of things kids and their families can do in order to practice daily kindness in this excerpt from The We Generation.
Sue Patton Thoele, a licensed psychotherapist, characterizes being nice to someone as being "a heart-lifter" in this excerpt from The Woman's Book of Spirit.
