Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm Andrew McGivern for November 4th.
Today is National Candy Day – a celebration of those sweet, colorful confections that have been bringing joy to people for centuries.
Candy has a surprisingly ancient history. The first candies were made from honey in ancient times. People would coat fruits, nuts, and even flowers with honey to preserve them and create sweet treats. It wasn't until sugar became more widely available in the 16th and 17th centuries that candy as we know it today really took off.
The word "candy" itself comes from the Persian word "qand," which means cane sugar. From there it traveled through Arabic, Italian, and French before landing in English as "candy."
Today, we have an almost overwhelming variety of candy. From nostalgic classics like candy corn and peppermint sticks to modern favorites like gummy bears and sour patches, there's a candy for every taste and every occasion. Whether you're a chocolate person, a hard candy devotee, or a gummy enthusiast, National Candy Day is your permission slip to indulge.
And let's be honest – arriving just four days after Halloween, when many of us still have bags of leftover candy sitting around, the timing is perfect. Which brings us to today's quote from... possibly Carla Yerovi or maybe from an unknown author. It has been attributed to Carla but this isn't widely established...
So, Carla Yerovi may have said...
"Kindness is like sugar – it makes life taste a little sweeter."
This beautiful comparison captures something essential about both kindness and candy.
Think about what sugar does. It transforms things. A plain cup of coffee becomes more enjoyable. A tart lemon becomes lemonade. Plain cream becomes ice cream. Sugar doesn't just add sweetness – it enhances, elevates, and improves whatever it touches.
Kindness works the same way. A simple act of kindness can transform someone's entire day. Holding a door, offering a genuine compliment, sending a thoughtful text, listening when someone needs to talk – these small gestures sweeten the sometimes bitter or bland moments of life.
And just like candy, kindness is meant to be shared. Nobody makes candy just to keep it for themselves. The whole point is the joy of giving and receiving. You hand out Halloween candy. You share your favorite chocolate. You offer someone a piece of gum.
Kindness follows the same logic. It multiplies when we give it away. Unlike actual candy, which we can run out of, kindness is infinitely renewable. The more you give, the more you seem to have.
On National Candy Day, this quote reminds us that while we're celebrating sweet treats, we can also celebrate and practice the sweetness we bring to each other's lives through simple acts of kindness.
So here's your challenge for National Candy Day: Yes, enjoy some candy today – you absolutely should. But also, be candy for someone else.
Add a little sweetness to someone's day. Send that encouraging text you've been meaning to send. Compliment a coworker. Let someone go ahead of you in line. Thank someone who usually goes unnoticed. Leave an extra good tip. Call someone just to tell them you're thinking of them.
Be like sugar – transform something ordinary into something special through the simple act of showing up with kindness.
Because while candy makes our taste buds happy, kindness makes our hearts happy. And unlike candy, you can never have too much kindness in your life.
So spread some sweetness today – both the edible kind and the even better kind that comes from the heart.
That's going to do it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern signing off for now but I'll be back tomorrow. Same Pod time, same Pod Station - with another Daily Quote.