In her 2019 Nobel lecture “The Tender Narrator,” Polish author Olga Tokarczuk reflected on her belief that tenderness is an understated but vitally important form of love. “Tenderness,” she said, “appears wherever we take a close and careful look at another being, at something that is not our ‘self.’” Feeling tenderness toward another being, then, is an intrinsic emotion that goes beyond empathy. Tokarczuk called it a “deep emotional concern” that acknowledges the similarities in our shared and fragile existence and honors the bonds between all living things. We are each part of the whole, she suggested, and tenderness is a way of looking at the world as “alive, living, interconnected, cooperating with, and codependent on itself.”

As a writer and futurist, Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of “Wired” magazine, has spent his career exploring the intersection of technology and humanity. This quote, from his 2023 book “Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier,” is a simple and very human rule for life: Kindness matters more than being correct. In a culture that often rewards quick and sharp rebuttals, focusing on trying to be right can be tempting — but it can also close the door to understanding and connection. Kelly’s quote, which concludes with the directive, “Don’t confuse kindness with weakness,” is a straightforward reminder that compassion is about choosing empathy over ego.