True gentleness is founded on a sense of what we owe to him who made us and to the common nature which we all share. It arises from reflection on our own failings and wants, and from just views of the condition and duty of man. It is native feeling heightened and improved by principle.
Hugh Blair (1824). “Sermons. ...: To which is Prefixed a Short Account of the Life and Character of the Author”, p.117