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.
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."
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: La bonté est un langage que les sourds peuvent entendre et les aveugles voir (literally: Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see)
- Spanish: La bondad es un idioma que los sordos pueden oír y los ciegos pueden ver (literally: Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see)
- Japanese: 親切は耳の聞こえない人も聞け、目の見えない人も見られる言葉だ (Shinsetsu wa mimi no kikoenai hito mo kike, me no mienai hito mo mirareru kotoba da) (literally: Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see)
More proverbs about Communication
- He who talks much errs much — The more you speak, the more likely you are to make mistakes or say the wrong thing.
- The tongue is the enemy of the neck — Careless speech can bring serious consequences upon the speaker.
- A gentle answer turns away wrath — Responding calmly to anger defuses conflict; harsh replies only escalate it.
- Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt — Staying quiet is often wiser than speaking and confirming your ignorance.
- Speak little, do much — Let your actions speak louder than your words; promise less and deliver more.
- The louder the thunder, the less the rain — The most dramatic announcements often yield the least substance.
From our idioms
- cry over spilled milk — to regret something past; useless to grieve over unchangeable events.
- white as a sheet — extremely pale; shocked or frightened.
- go pear-shaped — to go wrong; to develop badly; to become misshapen.