How can you tell if someone's heart is pure or not ?

I have never heard of a pre-screening way of judging that. Some will call me naive, but I tend to be a trusting person and don’t judge someone until I have met them. But I hold my trust in reserve.

For me, I trust people wholly when they have walked their talk, to use a tired cliche. And that means not until they have demonstrated that they are pure of heart. But I don’t judge them as not have a pure heart until they do something untoward.

See “Sir Galahad” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

“My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten
Because my heart is pure. ”

Look at their actions. Do they treat people with love, thoughtfulness, and common decency? Look at the people around them. Do they like the person in question?

Those are two very good starting points.

Welcome to Fluther.

“Pure hearts” exist only in fairy tales, and only the people who have those read to them – primarily children – believe that such a thing even exists. By the time they are old enough to read, most older children have been disabused of the notion.

Life would be easier if we could tell but it isn’t possible. It is difficult to even define ‘bad intentions’.

No, nothing foolproof. And people change.

Your better approach would be to continuously observe and evaluate.

I don’t think there’s anybody out there with a ’‘pure heart’’. Maybe a baby or a small child would, but the minute you’re conscious of making decisions, your pure heart is tainted forevermore.

Not really. You have to see their actions to tell whether they are good or bad.

I think @RandomGirl and @marinelife have it right. You judge them by their fruits.

By their actions, not words.

Asking a question is meaning less. Watch how they treat the waitstaff at a restaurant.

Mother Teresa is a fine example, people who give completely without any thought of themselves, and look for no reward! when you are completely free of ego..

If there were a test, Big Pharma would have patented it by now.

What exactly do you mean by “pure of heart”?

Like @CWOTUS said, that term is for fairy tales not real life.

If you are asking how can you tell if someone is a decent person, the only way you can find that out, it to get to know them. You can’t know a person until you get to know them, by being around them, by watching how they treat other people, by figuring out if they do what they say they are going to do, if they’re hard working, if they are compassionate towards other people, especially more fragile people like the elderly and people with disabilities, and animals and like @LuckyGuy said, the waitstaff at restaurants and other customer service representatives, and people who are boring or not particularly intelligent. In my book, patience is a huge virtue.

When you meet someone, who is a potential mate for you, you should ask lots of questions at the beginning of a relationship. Don’t interrogate people, but ask them all sorts of questions like:

What are your parents like?

Do you get a long with you parents and siblings?

Do you like kids and animals?

Would you be willing to have dinner with my family?

What are your holiday family gatherings like?

What is your best friend like, can I meet him/her?

What is your opinion of gay rights and gay marriage?

Do you follow a particular religion? How do you regard people of other religions?

You don’t need to blurt these questions all in the course of one evening, but you should find out the answers to these questions, early on in a relationship.

There is absolutely no fool proof formula to detect a pure heart due to too many complex case scenarios on human behavior that make a model on how to detect a pure heart. What may seems pure to you my be not so pure to me. A prostitute by the name of Candy got in my books a pure hear but in your books she does not have a pure heart because she is a prostitute and my point is every person on this planet got a different version of moral standards. I second what @LuckyGuy said, the best way to determent a pure heart is to observe how people treat strangers or other people.

If they can remove the sword from the stone they are pure of heart (or so the legend goes)

Even though she alluded to it, @gailcalled forgot to mention that part :)

But seriously, you look at what they do, how they treat people (especially those in inferior positions) as well as family and friends.

Actions speak louder than words is a truism which still holds today. Anybody can talk and you sometimes can’t tell if it’s BS. But can they walk the talk.

Don’t look to the words. Watch how they act. See how they treat others around them, if they cut other people some slack when they need it, if they treat servers and others well.
@Symbeline What is that Edgar Allan? Forevermore? :)

By their actions and intentions.

Oh my. Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Adirondackwannabe: “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’ ”

The Raven

@gailcalled I know, I love Poe.

I love what you say @CWOTUS