---
title: "We are so much accustomed to the humanitarian outlook that we forget … — Kenneth Clark Quote #30 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "We are so much accustomed to the humanitarian outlook that we forget how little it counted in earlier ages of civilisation. Ask any decent person in … — a quote by Kenneth Clark."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # We are so much accustomed to the humanitarian outlook that we forget how little it counted in earlier ages of civilisation. Ask any decent person in England or America what he thinks matters most in human conduct: five to one his answer will be 'kindness.' It's not a word that would have crossed the lips of any of the earlier heroes of this series. If you had asked St. Francis what mattered in life, he would, we know, have answered 'chastity, obedience and poverty'; if you had asked Dante or Michelangelo, they might have answered 'disdain of baseness and injustice'; if you had asked Goethe, he would have said 'to live in the whole and the beautiful.' But kindness, never. Our ancestors didn't use the word, and they did not greatly value the quality - except perhaps insofar as they valued compassion.

[Kenneth Clark](https://quotesby.net/Kenneth-Clark)\#30[WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CWe%20are%20so%20much%20accustomed%20to%20the%20humanitarian%20outlook%20that%20we%20forget%20how%20little%20it%20counted%20in%20earlier%20ages%20of%20civilisation.%20Ask%20any%20decent%20person%20in%20England%20or%20America%20what%20he%20thinks%20matters%20most%20in%20human%20conduct%3A%20five%20to%20one%20his%20answer%20will%20be%20%27kindness.%27%20It%27s%20not%20a%20word%20that%20would%20have%20crossed%20the%20lips%20of%20any%20of%20the%20earlier%20heroes%20of%20this%20series.%20If%20you%20had%20asked%20St.%20Francis%20what%20mattered%20in%20life%2C%20he%20would%2C%20we%20know%2C%20have%20answered%20%27chastity%2C%20obedience%20and%20poverty%27%3B%20if%20you%20had%20asked%20Dante%20or%20Michelangelo%2C%20they%20might%20have%20answered%20%27disdain%20of%20baseness%20and%20injustice%27%3B%20if%20you%20had%20asked%20Goethe%2C%20he%20would%20have%20said%20%27to%20live%20in%20the%20whole%20and%20the%20beautiful.%27%20But%20kindness%2C%20never.%20Our%20ancestors%20didn%27t%20use%20the%20word%2C%20and%20they%20did%20not%20greatly%20value%20the%20quality%20-%20except%20perhaps%20insofar%20as%20they%20valued%20compassion.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Kenneth%20Clark%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FKenneth-Clark%2F30%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CWe%20are%20so%20much%20accustomed%20to%20the%20humanitarian%20outlook%20that%20we%20forget%20how%20little%20it%20counted%20in%20earlier%20ages%20of%20civilisation.%20Ask%20any%20decent%20person%20in%20England%20or%20America%20what%20he%20thinks%20matters%20most%20in%20human%20conduct%3A%20five%20to%20one%20his%20answer%20will%20be%20%27kindness.%27%20It%27s%20not%20a%20word%20that%20would%20have%20crossed%20the%20lips%20of%20any%20of%20the%20earlier%20heroes%20of%20this%20series.%20If%20you%20had%20asked%20St.%20Francis%20what%20mattered%20in%20life%2C%20he%20would%2C%20we%20know%2C%20have%20answered%20%27chastity%2C%20obedience%20and%20poverty%27%3B%20if%20you%20had%20asked%20Dante%20or%20Michelangelo%2C%20they%20might%20have%20answered%20%27disdain%20of%20baseness%20and%20injustice%27%3B%20if%20you%20had%20asked%20Goethe%2C%20he%20would%20have%20said%20%27to%20live%20in%20the%20whole%20and%20the%20beautiful.%27%20But%20kindness%2C%20never.%20Our%20ancestors%20didn%27t%20use%20the%20word%2C%20and%20they%20did%20not%20greatly%20value%20the%20quality%20-%20except%20perhaps%20insofar%20as%20they%20valued%20compassion.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Kenneth%20Clark&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FKenneth-Clark%2F30%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FKenneth-Clark%2F30%2F)

## More from Kenneth Clark

1. > What on earth has given opera its prestige in western civilisation - a prestige that has outlasted so many different fashions and ways of thought? Why are peop…

[Permalink to quote \#29](https://quotesby.net/Kenneth-Clark/29/ "Permalink to quote 29")
2. > Sweeping, confident articles on the future seem to me, intellectually, the most disreputable of all forms of public utterance.

[Permalink to quote \#31](https://quotesby.net/Kenneth-Clark/31/ "Permalink to quote 31")
3. > Opera, next to Gothic architecture, is one of the strangest inventions of western man. It could not have been foreseen by any logical process.

[Permalink to quote \#28](https://quotesby.net/Kenneth-Clark/28/ "Permalink to quote 28")

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