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“The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power forever.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol: The Original 1843 Edition

“All of them. . . had seemed to live in a world where compassion was not necessary. He saw now that it the very first necessity, always and everywhere, and should flow between all men, always and everywhere. Men lived with their nearest and dearest and knew little of them, and strangers passing by in the street were as impersonal as trees walking, and all the while there was this deep affinity, for all men suffered.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Dean's Watch

“Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil? But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren't a priest." "What?" asked the thief, almost gaping. "You attacked reason," said Father Brown. "It's bad theology.”
― G.K. Chesterton, Father Brown: Essential Tales

“I was sorry for her; I was amazed, disgusted at her heartless vanity; I wondered why so much beauty should be given to those who made so bad a use of it, and denied to some who would make it a benefit to both themselves and others.”
― Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey