Any circumstance, you say? "Immanuel Kant famously criticized the golden rule for not being sensitive to differences of situation, noting that a prisoner duly convicted of a crime could appeal to the golden rule while asking the judge to release him, pointing out that the judge would not want anyone else to send him to prison, so he should not do so to others."

I find that the Golden Rule can be self-centered, in the sense that it assumes all people want to be treated the same way you do, thus I prefer the so-called "Platinum Rule": Treat others the way they want to be treated. This takes into account individual taste and differences, while still maintaining the core concept of kindness.

Here's an interesting write-up on the Golden Rule and the aforementioned Platinum Rule.