Kindness

“‘How can you know what is missing if you’ve never met it? You must know of something’s existence before you can notice its absence. So it was with The Souls. They found on their journeys what you found at Sillington House.’

“‘A cup of kindness, Mr. Singh? Is that what I found?’

“‘Kindness, yes, Mrs. Olinski. Noah, Nadia, and Ethan found kindness in others and learned how to look for it in themselves. Can you know excellence if you’ve never seen it? Can you know good if you have only seen bad?'”

–E.L. Konigsburg, The View from Saturday