Although few of us give a second thought about lost potential or moment to show off how kind we are, it turns out that even the smallest bits of kindness make the biggest difference in the lives of others--even if results aren't immediate. Read on for 17 quotes about kindness that will move you to start making the most notable of differences in someone else's life.

1. "Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." - Albert Schweitzer

2. "There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity." - Nathaniel Branden

3. "You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. "Transparency, honesty, kindness, good stewardship, even humor, work in businesses at all times." - John Gerzema

5, "Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." - Scott Adams

6. "He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged." - Benjamin Franklin

7. "Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver." - Barbara de Angelis

8. "One who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others. He is considerate of others' feelings and courteous in his behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness pardons others' weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all--to the aged and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high." - Ezra Taft Benson

9. "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain

10. "Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom." - Theodore Isaac Rubin

11. "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

12. "Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." - Henry James

13. "A warm smile is the universal language of kindness." - William Arthur Ward

14. "Always be a little kinder than necessary." - James M. Barrie

15. "One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession." - Sophocles

16. "Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness." - George Sand