Meaning:
Care and compassion for others.
Background:
From Shakespeare's Macbeth, 1605:
"Yet doe I feare thy Nature, It is too full o' th' Milke of humane kindnesse."
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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What's to be feared of one's compassion for others? I looked it up and found
'I do fear thy nature, / It is too full o'th'milk of human kindness / To
catch the nearest way. ' (1,5) Lady Macbeth is worried that Macbeth is too
good and soft-hearted to take action to get the crown.
Now that makes sense.
