Human Kindness

Be inspired by incredible stories of kindness from around the world, and throughout history. Join the Planetwalker, John Francis, on an exploration of kindness, great and small. From the kindness John has experienced in his own life to the history of how kindness has helped to shape our laws, morals and communities from around the world. Over the whole history of humankind, kindness has been key to the survival of our species, and to making our world a better place. Learn about Harriet Tubman, who risked her life to help others escape from slavery, the Nomads Clinic, which sends doctors trekking into the Himalayas to tend to patients, The Linda Lindas, a group of young musicians who use their talent to speak up for the rights of others, Joshua Coombes, a hairdresser who gives free haircuts to the homeless, and many others. The joyous and awe-inspiring stories in this book will encourage young readers to be kind to others. And being kind, even in small ways, turns out to be healthy for you, yet another reason to practice kindness every day. It’s our planet to share together—let's be kind.

Kindness comes in many forms and affects all of us. As Mark Twain said, ‘Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.’ And while a kind gesture can often simply make someone feel better about their day, sometimes — as the twenty-five true stories collected here show — it can save a life. Sourced from around the world, these are stories of the everyday and the extraordinary. The result is a book that explores all that is best about human nature.

The Anatomy of Human Kindness By: Chi C. Mao, M. D., Ph. D. In this examination of contemporary American society, Chi C. Mao, M.D., Ph.D. reminds us that human kindness is a double-edged sword. Rightful use can help—but the misuse of kindness can be destructive to not only individuals, but to society, the country and the very survival of our species. His keen observations on the sad changes in U.S. culture have provoked this treatise on the dangers of kindness and the effects it has had on the American spirit in recent years. In the distribution of kindness, Dr. Mao states: “One, do no harm. Two, use it in a most effective way.”

With The Gospel of Pure Human Kindness, Charles F. Tekula, Jr. brings to light the very nature of Jesus the Nazorean in an eminently readable interpretive adaptation of the Gospel According to St. John, taken from the King James. By updating the phraseology with familiar terms and idioms and putting the chapters into standard book format, sans numbered verses, Tekula has put the fullness of the story back into the message. He illuminates the true heart of the Gospel by replacing the narrator's identification of Jesus from his angelically given Greek name (meaning God Saves") to the English "Pure Human Kindness." In this way it is transformed from a name that modern civilization gives as many meanings to as there are philosophies and cultures within it, to one whose interpretation is singular, point on and unmistakable. As the author explains in his introduction, Jesus showed Himself to be, by His very words and actions, a "pure human kindness with the power and authority of Almighty God to back it up." To read "The Gospel of Pure Human Kindness" is to meet the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the form of His living metaphor, Jesus, the Davidic Galilean Jew, who inspired the Apostle John to write the everlasting words, "God is love."(I John 4:16)

A Study Guide for Naomi Shihab Nye's "Kindness," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

Kindness Wars rescues our understanding of kindness from the clutches of an intellectually and morally myopic popular psychology and returns it to the stage of big ideas, in keeping with the important Enlightenment-era debates about human nature and possibilities. Cazenave conceptualizes kindness not just as a benevolent feeling, a caring thought, or a generous action but as a worldview, a theory, or an ideology that explains who we are and justifies how we treat others. Here “kindness wars” refer to the millennia-old “kindness theory” and ideological conflicts over what kind of societies humans can and should have. The book’s title denotes the two types of kindness wars it analyzes, conflict over (1) whether to be kind or not (i.e., the conflicts between kindness and other societal values and ideologies) and (2) what it means to be kind (i.e., the wars within kindness over different ideas as to what it means to be kind and to whom). Using a conflict theoretical perspective, Kindness Wars examines the history of the kindness concept; its many struggles with opposing notions of our true nature and possibilities; and what the lessons of that history and those battles offer us toward the development of a large, robust, and politically engaged conceptualization of kindness.