
ProverbCommunication
American origin1857
Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see
Meaning: Acts of kindness transcend words and communicate beyond all physical limitations.
Often credited to: Mark Twain, but it was first written by Christian Nestell Bovee
Origin: Credited to Mark Twain only from 1942, when the columnist Walter Winchell printed it under his name, three decades after Twain's death. The earliest known version is by the American writer Christian Nestell Bovee, in Thoughts, Feelings, and Fancies (1857): "Kindness is a language the dumb can speak and the deaf can hear and understand."
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