What is the difference between kindness and niceness?
Happy people become happier through kindness
See, what Prophet Muhammad said about "Kindness":
"Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith".
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~ Mark Twain
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
Kindness in Islam:
“Whoever is kind, Allah will be kind to him; therefore be kind to man on the earth. He who is in heaven will show mercy on you.”
----- (Abu Dawud: Tirmidhi)
“Once the Prophet was asked: “Tell us, which action is dearest to Allah?” He answered: “To say your prayer at its proper time.” Again he was asked: “What comes next?” Mohammad said: “To show kindness to parents.” “Then what?” he was asked, “To strive for the cause of Allah!”
------ (Ibn Masad: Bukhari)
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
Bible Verses about Kindness
God encourages his people to be kind to one another, even enemies. These Bible verses allow God to speak to hearts on the importance of kindness, which in the end leads to good in the world.
Ephesians 4:32
"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
Galatians 5:22-23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Proverbs 3:3
"Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart."
Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions (see ethics in religion) .Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
Lao Tzu expressed it nicely:
"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love"
Lao Tzu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindness
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~ Mark Twain
Kindness is one of essential factors for human relationship; when it is done without expecting any return, it makes happy both the person who did it and the person who received it. Here is a good quote from Albert Schweitzer: "Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate."
Kindness is an important characteristics of a human being which shows unconditional love, affectionate towards someone. We should not angry with someone or not hurt someone even he/she hurts us. Show love, which implies kindness.
"One kind act is better than a thousand kind thoughts." - Unknown
Kindness often means putting other people's feelings before your own.
Kindness is being generous, friendly, or warm-hearted. It means having a kind and gentle nature. Kindness involves doing good rather than harm. When practicing kindness, people show an understanding for others and treat them with respect. Kindness involves doing thoughtful deeds for people who are in need. It often means putting other people's feelings before your own. When people are kind they feel compassion.
How To Show Kindness:
* Try to appreciate others' talents and skills.
* Comfort and help those who need assistance.
* Help those who are less fortunate.
* Show consideration and kindness through your actions and words.
* Show your appreciation by thanking those who do you a kindness.
* Help others because it is right, not because it is required.
* Show forgiveness to those who have hurt you.
*Put others' needs before your own.
* Be a good listner.
http://www.watertowncsd.org/webpages/chudson/files/what%20is%20kindness1.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindness
http://legacyandleadershipcoaching.com/wordpress/2011/09/what-is-kindness-why-is-leading-with-kindness-so-important/
He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged. ~Benjamin Franklin
The word kindness (amabilidad, in Spanish) has the same root that love (amar, in Spanish). Kindness is the disposition to love and be loved. Faith and acts of love have more value than many human words.
Kindness is a virtue that is built beginning from childhood at home, from community, schools and society. It is a pleasing behavior that is displayed from action, treating others as fragile beings, providing extreme care and support when needed or otherwise. Kindness is observable from actions and one has to act with full parameters of goodness towards others to be kind.
Kindness is a built in character which one can not purchase it at supermarkets like commodities for instant and disposable use. An instant and disposable "kindness" is not innately kindness but an investment someone wants to make for future return value.
Dear Hazim,
This is interesting.
I am often reffered as a kind person, and I have often wondered why... I believe it comes naturally because I am honest, but above all, because I have love as my favorite and more frequent feeling. Love and respect for other human beings, and love and respect for my own self.
Yes, in fact, I do believe that love is the root of happiness and kindness.
Yes, it also relates with faith. because faith is intrinsically related with love, hence with true kindness.
Kindness of a human being indicates quality of being friendly, generous, and careful not to cause harm to others in words & in actions. Someone may be nice but not kind i.e. as the saying "Still water runs deep" but a kind person must be nice. At present, kindness is a rare quality or is too much limited.
Politicians of these days in influential countries take the wrong lessons which depict kindness as a sign of weakness & this is ONE of the reasons behind the prevailing "dirty politics".
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Kindness is a charity means having a kind and gentle nature. It is a spontaneous gesture of goodwill towards the human beings, the animals and the whole nature. Kindness involves doing good rather than harm. The kindness expects nothing & comes with no strings attached and without any conditions.
We can show kindness through various ways. Few of them are following:
It is well said, “One kind act is better than a thousand of kind thoughts”. It is a language which, the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
Unfortunately these days we note that the voices of racism and torture more than the language of compassion and responsibility towards people's lives . While from time to time, there are voices to sound to break down the concepts of compassion and kindness between people for purpose of military trade or Hatred of human societies
"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver."
-Barbara de Angelis
Teaching mistakes from college classroom - Kindness mistaken for Weakness
http://www.facultyfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/images/teaching-mistakes-special-report1.pdf
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Be kind to yourself.
Many people make the error of trying to be kind to others while at the same time not focusing on being kind to themselves. Some of this can stem from not liking aspects of yourself, but more often than not, it's sourced in the inability to know yourself better. And unfortunately, when you don't feel rock solid within yourself, your kindness to others risks falling into the deluded types of kindness described in the previous step. Or, it can lead to burn-out and disillusionment because you've put everyone else first.
- Self-knowledge allows you to see what causes you pain and conflict, and enables you to embrace your contradictions and inconsistencies. It allows the space to work on things about yourself that you're not happy with. In turn, self-knowledge helps to prevent you from projecting your negative aspects onto other people, thereby empowering you to treat other people with love and kindness.
- Take time to become more self-aware and use this learning to be kinder to both yourself (remembering that we all have weaknesses) and to others. In this way, your inner angst is being dealt with rather than fueling your need to project the hurt and pain.
- Avoid viewing time taken to become more aware of your own needs and limits as an act of selfishness; far from it, it is a vital pre-condition to being able to reach out to other people with great strength and awareness.
- Ask yourself what you think it means to be kinder to yourself. For many people, being kinder to themselves includes monitoring the chatter in your thoughts and stopping your negative thinking."......
please, see the original article for further information...
http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Kind
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Kill Them With Kindness
Everyone knows the Golden Rule, but not everyone takes it to heart. Kindness often gets overlooked as a sign of weakness, and to an extent, it can be—there is such a thing as being too nice. But a little kindness can still go a long way.
For starters, being kind is good for you. As in, it's actually healthy for you in the biological sense. A recent study found that there may be some connection with positive thoughts of kindness and social contact with the body's vagus nerve:
The vagus regulates how efficiently heart rate changes with breathing and, in general, the greater its tone, the higher the heart-rate variability and the lower the risk for cardiovascular disease and other major killers. It may also play a role in regulating glucose levels and immune responses (...) the vagus is intimately tied to how we connect with one another—it links directly to nerves that tune our ears to human speech, coordinate eye contact and regulate emotional expressions.
Being kind can also make you happier. It feels good to be nice and help others and it can physically make you feel happier. There is a chemical reason for that:
When a person performs an act of kindness the brain produces dopamine, associated with positive thinking. Secondly, the brain has its own natural versions of morphine and heroine: endogenous opioids, such as endorphins. It is believed that when a person does an act of kindness they feel good on a chemical level thanks to the production of these endogenous opioids.
Not only that, but if you exhibit kindness, others will like you more (shocker!). According to Adam Grant, the youngest-tenured and highest-rated professor at Wharton, giving is the secret to getting ahead. Grant credits his success to being kind and helping others when they need it. So being nice doesn't just help others—it can help you, too."....
The complete article is attached , please, see it for for more details...
http://lifehacker.com/how-being-humble-kind-and-calm-will-make-your-life-ea-1561763720
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
These are two very interesting quotations about "Kindness to animals", please, see ...
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. ~Albert Schweitzer
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers."
----- Khalil Gibran
Kindness mighty weapon to counter the ignorant, it stems from pure self so that we can continue in this life honestly and without fear
Dear Hazim and all other kind persons in RG,
I make a difference between kind and nice persons, and i prefere the kind ones. Why?
A nice person is focus on himself/herself, is a pleasant and agreeable one, but one that does nice things in order to be perceived by others as "nice". Is very worried about belonging to groups(image , sense of belonging much more important than love others...)
A kind person focus on others, is a conscious creature, rooted in love, having a helpfull nature. A kind person does not necessarily care about "belonging to a certain group" , is not thinking about himself /herself.
In terms of science and frienship is much better to be near a kind than a nice person, because the ones that acts according to the best of others are the kind ones, and sometimes the "nice" ones are the obstacles to knowledge, or to our happiness.
How many of us in RG are kind persons surrounded by some others called "nice" ...
Have a wonderful time
Helena
"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile"
~ Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian-born missionary.
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible"
~Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves"
~ AMELIA EARHART, Magic City Morning Star, Jun. 1, 2005
Dear Helena,
Thanks for your very insightful comments! They reminded me of one of the definitions of love in the Bible:
"Love is patient and kind...It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out..." (I Corinthians 13:4-7).
The Greek word translated into"kind" means "to be of use to." That means, to love/be kind to others, one needs to be useful to them. Consequently, one may not say nice things, but one will speak the truth in love.
Every person you meet is fighting a battle of which you know nothing. Be gentle. Always
(Plato)
Yes dear @Ierardi Enzo and all, This is very beautiful quote about kidness.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. ~ Plato
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession."
------ Sophocles
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
-- Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian-born missionary.
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.
-- Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) German theologian and physician.
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.
-- Confucius (BC 551-BC 479) Chinese philosopher.
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Being popular comes when you have everything. But to be liked, it means that you must be treating people with respect and you must be showing kindness toward them."
----- Queen Rania of Jordan
If a man says that it is right to give every one his due, and therefore thinks within his own mind that injury is due from a just man to his enemies but kindness to his friends, he was not wise who said so, for he spoke not the truth, for in no case has it appeared to be just to injure any one. ~Plato
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
See this very nice "Russian Proverb" about "kind":
"A kind word is like a Spring day."
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
Please, read what "Seneca- known as Seneca the Younger, c. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was a tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. " said once:
"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness."
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
---- Dalai Lama
Nice posters from Stephen, good defintions from others thanks to all researchers for these new ideas to be more kind
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Research has shown that a simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Kindness extended, received or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved."
---- Wayne Dyer
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"The real meaning of kindness is to be kind and respectful to yourself .... and in doing so you are naturally being kind and respectful to others.... when you are authentic you are honoring everyone .... including yourself."
----- Love Aeve
Kindness and altruism happen when we selflessly consider others and act to promote their well-being. Research shows that genuine kindness and altruism benefit the giver with better health, satisfying social connections, increased happiness, and much more
http://www.awcnet.org/Portals/0/documents/Wellness/HappyTrailsTrailMixer6kindness.pdf
Kindness is an attribute of human beings (as well as God) that treat others good despite others deserving or not deserving it and the actor of kindness will not expect any return after the act of kindness has been performed.
Kindness can not be defined but it can be felt by some other person. It purely depends on your thought process and your inner-self. It can be groomed if you start feeling every body equal to you loving to you and humble to you. Then and only you can respect them and their identity while showing any kind of kindness. Reading Srimadbhagwad Gita, the Hindu holy book is best medium to understand it.
How to be kind? How to show kindness?
We can demonstrate unthinkable kindness as shown in some of the photos / video clips in the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9EdsON36ac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A-Egp0lECk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ0ffuwkMlU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJtWA2n2C6I
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Don't mistake niceness for weakness."
---- Jennifer Granholm
Dear colleagues,
Some interesting papers…
Otake K, Shimai S, Tanaka-Matsumi J, Otsui K, Fredrickson BL. HAPPY PEOPLE BECOME HAPPIER THROUGH KINDNESS: A COUNTING KINDNESSES INTERVENTION. J Happiness Stud. 2006 Sep;7(3):361-375. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1820947/pdf/nihms-13827.pdf
Noel KA. The kindness of strangers. Can Fam Physician. 2015 Jul;61(7):621-2. http://www.cfp.ca/content/61/7/621.full.pdf+html
Zeng X, Chiu CP, Wang R, Oei TP, Leung FY. The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review. Front Psychol. 2015 Nov 3;6:1693. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01693/pdf
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
Please, see how lovely is this "Scottish Proverb":
"Do not judge by appearances, a rich Heart may be under a poor coat"
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money."
----- John Ruskin
Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
----- Dalai Lama
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."
----- Princess Diana
"The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." ....Aesop
Dear all,
Kindness is to think abiut how other people are feeling and the way we can improved the well being of others.
Have a nice day
Helena
Kindness is the opposite of rudeness.
Rudeness is counterproductive - always.
Therefore, we must be kind wherever it is at all possible.
"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
Khalil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer. He was Born in the town of Bsharri in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Empire (north of modern-day Lebanon). He immigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. This Khalil Gibran quote on Kindness is very inspirational.
He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet..
The Prophet sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.
http://dailyinspiration.me/khalil-gibran-quote-on-kindness/
Beautiful quotes from Mahatma Gandhi
The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."
~ Mother Teresa
'I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.'
~ Mother Teresa
"Only your compassion and your loving kindness are invincible, and without limit.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"It is a kingly act to assist the fallen."
― Mother Teresa
Thank you for the beautiful Mother Teresa, dear Hazim. How very true and peaceful !!!
Dear Hazim:
I like debate because it is an important part of intellectual pursuits. But I also believe in interpretive caritas, that is, seeing, in a debate, your colleague's point of view in the best possible light. The Latin word caritas used to mean the love you give to friends and family, something almost the same as kindness, very far from the desirous love named cupiditas. Caritas is, really, not an emotion, but a behavior. A "caritative behavior" is what the other receives from us, the good will in listening, in sharing, in being sincere taking into account the impact our words and actions have on the other in the hope that we will be reciprocated. Lack of reciprocity frequently inhibits caritas, as we expect that our caritas will be returned "in kind" or, so to say, "in kindness", in caritas.
I have received kindness from people who do not profess a particular faith, and I have the impression that it is unfair to think that the faithless cannot be kind, especially since I have had the contrary personal experience. Kindness can be seen in children who don't know anything about faith, as they easily reciprocate kindness. I have seen mentally ill people who are kind while lacking an awareness of their own selfhood. I believe that having faith comes from a personal decision or a personal realization, whereas kindness seems more natural, freer, lighter than faith. I have seen so many people whose faith has taken them to fanaticism and to doing deliberate harm to others, while I have also seen violent people becoming kind because they have embraced faith. But caritas seems simpler, unthought, spontaneous, an original "manner of being" that can become more conscious with time. That is why debate can be kind: because we want to build knowledge together, and not just to win an argument. Caritas is of the essence in every aspect of daily and professional life. I believe I am a happy person.
Kindness, caritas, must breed kindness, caritas. Kindness is not martyrdom, or penitence, or torturing our soul. Happiness and kindness or caritas must go together if we want to teach others about letting their own kindness bloom.
Being "nice" has nothing to do with kindness.
Thank you for your kindly beautiful question! Lilliana
Kindness remain the nature of human being & its a temperament comes from the within .With a sensitive approach its gets reflected ob our face which we are aware that face is a mirror .
Our feelings of kindness get appear on our face & especially in our eyes which very often becomes a part of our tears .
We have to be kind & if it is not fully the part of our temperament we have to cultivate & also to establish this sort of feeling within us .At the same time this is not easily as in this case it is not in our nature so with the faith ,with our will ,even with our prayer we have to cultivate this practice when ever it comes to us the necessary atmosphere & environment before us within our working surrounding ,also as a part of the member of family & social surrounding & in this opportunity time we have to recall our sentiments & feelings & if we are genuine in a real sense we can certainly achieve the temperament of kindness.
With this our action may certainly move towards the incidental where our feelings may get reflected by showing sympathy & kindness .
This is my personal opinion
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."
------ Princess Diana
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money."
----- John Ruskin
In my opinion, kindness comes heart to have pity on others or help others. Sometimes, I think it is one of the most important item gifted by GOD. Some person always have pity on others but some person donot have it.
Regards,
M.N.Alam
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
― Henry James
Dear Hazim,
Kindness is a virtue and sign of maturity. It should be nurtured from childhood and should not be confused with the intellectual infirmity.
Dear all! The concept of kindness and of love dominates in the Bible. What prevents to translate these principles into practice? Perhaps it prevents a person to lack of choice in life. Human sees before him only enemies.
"Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith".
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
― Desmond Tutu
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"The words you say mean nothing, the way you say them means everything."
----- Eileen Parra
Let me offer a few thoughts and feelings out loud.
Modern understanding of kindness becomes more biased in kind. Kindness and love is a natural state of sincere personality. Such individuals getting smaller, but the advertisements of kindness and prizes for demonstrating "love and beauty" more. It should be understood, and show kindness and love as clear as described in the Bible.
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer."
– Mahatma Gandhi
Kindness is the best thing that we can give it to other without any serious effort.
Dear Hazim, to my mind kindness is helping others without any thoughts that they will do the same.
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"With a sweet tongue and kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair."
---- (Persian Proverb)
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Kindness brings happiness."
---- (English Proverb)
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"Honesty and kindness enhance every beauty."
--- (Sicilian Proverb)
Kindness - all the relationships of people to each other, as well as animate and inanimate nature, which are creative, but invisible.
Kindness : to care, give, help, share and not expect anything in return.
Loving-Kindness Meditation:
Zeng X, Chiu CP, Wang R, Oei TP, Leung FY. The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review. Front Psychol. 2015;6:1693. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01693/full
Hofmann SG, Petrocchi N, Steinberg J, et al. Loving-Kindness Meditation to Target Affect in Mood Disorders: A Proof-of-Concept Study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:269126. http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2015/269126.pdf
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"The kindness and affection from the public have carried me through some of the most difficult periods, and always your love and affection have eased the journey."
--- Princess Diana
Kindness can make our lives and world more peaceful.
When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.
~Dalai Lama XIV. In the spirit of giving,
The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; it provides protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axeman who destroys it!
— Gautama Buddha
Dear Colleagues,
Good Day,
"There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear."
~Frank Tyger
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