I might be botching this quote but I agree with the idea that a measure of society is not how it treats its most powerful but how it treats its most vulnerable, including the poor and incarcerated and - I would add to that - the people whose ideas are not currently in favor.
We can worship Christ in our sanctuaries and we can pray to God on our knees, but how we treat - or neglect - the person next door, the poor, every human being, this is how we truly speak to Christ and this is how we really treat Jesus.
You ultimately judge the civility of a society not by how it treats the rich, the powerful, the protected and the highly esteemed, but by how it treats the poor, the disfavored and the disadvantaged.
The way we treat people we think can't help or hurt us - like housekeepers, waiters, and secretaries - tells more about our character than how we treat people we think are important. How we behave when we think no one is looking or when we don't think we will get caught more accurately portrays our character than what we say or do in service of our reputations.
Growing up I watched examples of how not to treat people. I knew when I got into certain positions that I wasn't going to talk to people the way that they did. My mindset is, if you want to see the true character of a person watch how they treat those who can't do anything for them.
The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.
How we treat the least of our brethren,... that's the measure of this country.
The true measure of a person’s character is how one handles one’s failures, not successes.
The true test of a person's character is how they treat the people in life that they don't need.
Your true character Is most accurately measured by how you treat those who can do 'Nothing' for you
Of all my father's teachings, the most enduring was the one about the true measure of a man. That true measure was how well he provided for his children, and it stuck with me as if it were etched in my brain.
Don't let our outside labels or how fervent we look or zealous we are or how righteous we seem; that's not how you measure yourself against other people. Everyone is a child of God; if we really believed that, we'd treat each other better.
Service is the measure of greatness; it always has been true; it is true today, and it always will be true, that he is greatest who does the most of good. Nearly all of our controversies and combats grow out of the fact that we are trying to get something from each other--there will be peace when our aim is to do something for each other. The human measure of a human life is its income; the divine measure of a life is its outgo, its overflow--its contribution to the welfare of all.
Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.
The way we treat our children in the dawn of their lives and the way we treat our elderly in the twilight of their lives is a measure of the quality of a nation.
The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens. As Americans, we are blessed with circumstances that protect our human rights and our religious freedom, but for many people around the world, deprivation and persecution have become a way of life.