In "Jukkinsho" Section 7-27, the young Kiyomori was described as a person who 'thought it was a joke if someone did something quite unreasonable,' 'gently smiled to be kind to someone who did something that was not funny at all, and also never raised his voice to scorn someone as being useless even when that person had made a terrible mistake', 'let young attendants who served him during a cold winter sleep at the bottom of his clothes and let them sleep well if they overslept, by quietly getting out of the bed,' and 'respected a servant of the lowest rank as a person in front of the servant's family or acquaintances, and that servant was truly pleased as it was a great honor.'
『十訓抄』7-27には、若い頃の清盛について「人がとんでもない不都合な振る舞いをしても、冗談と思うことにした」「やったことがちっともおかしくなくても、相手への労わりとしてにこやかに笑い、とんでもない誤りをしても、役立たずと声を荒げることはない」「冬の寒い時に身辺に奉仕する幼い従者を自分の衣の裾の方に寝かせ、彼らが朝寝坊をしていたらそっと床から抜け出して存分に寝かせてやった」「最下層の召使いでも、彼の家族や知り合いの見ている前では一人前の人物として扱ったので、その者は大変な面目と感じて心から喜んだ」という逸話が記されている。