What Does “the milk of human kindness” mean?
Definition:
The phrase the milk of human kindness refers to the quality of kindness and the innate sense of compassion towards other people.
The origin of the phrase
The phrase comes from Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth:
Lady Macbeth:
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promis’d. Yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.
Lady Macbeth, who is very ambitious, complains that her husband is too kind to kill the king and achieve his goals. He is rather a person who acts as a good man and doesn’t have the type of nature needed to take action and get the throne.
The reference to milk in the phrase may refer to mothers’ milk. When mothers breastfeed their babies, this is seen as an act of self-sacrifice, love, and compassion.
Example(s)
She is filled with the milk of human kindness.
John is quite rude and greedy; he lacks the milk of human kindness.
People take advantage of Alan because he is too full of the milk of human kindness.
I don’t think she would do anything that evil; she has the milk of human kindness in her.
