Are You a Good Person?

FadedGrenade

The goodness of a person is very subjective. A good person in one's eyes can be a bad person in another's eyes. Someone who is very widely accepted as a bad person may be one person's hero, and vice versa.

“I'm not sure what a good person is, exactly. On the one hand, it could be someone who always plays by the rules. But someone can follow the rules and still be a real jerk, you know? In fact, some of the biggest idiots I know are people who follow the rules, usually because they make you feel like crap when you don't.” -M.T. Ford

But here are my thoughts on what can characterize a good person:

Are You a Good Person?

Your Attitude During Other's Misery

Sometimes, it is how you shine in the darkness during other people's misery that is remembered more than anything. When someone's life is going through a rough patch, a lot of the time it is how you react and support them rather that matters. If you want to make a difference in someone's life, you don't need to be gorgeous, rich, famous, brilliant or perfect. you just have to care. Do good and be good.

Are You a Good Person?

Actions Speak Louder than Words

There may be no such thing as a good or bad person. There may just be people who have been good or bad to others. Nobody else can see your thoughts but you. Everyone else can just see your actions. To me, a good person is someone who puts their words to actions. You cannot call someone a good person just because he is treating you well, they should treat everyone well. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike.

Are You a Good Person?

Appreciation

A person who appreciates someone doing something good is also a good person. A person who appreciates the goodness of life is a good person. Never forget to appreciate what is good in this world. Do not make your expectations too high. Expecting the world to be nice to you, just because you are, it's like expecting that a lion doesn't eat you just because you didn't eat him: Not correct.

Are You a Good Person?

Too Good?

Do not be too good. Aim above just being a good person. Be good for something. Don't waste your time wondering, "is this moral? Is this right? Is this good?" because you'll never do anything good. Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one.

Arguing this can be nonsense. Will it make us too cowardly to do what is right, and avoid doing what is wrong? Stop believing that some people are good and evil. There are just good and evil actions.

"Deep down, do I even really want to be a good person, or do I only want to seem like a good person so that people (including myself) will approve of me? Is there a difference? How do I ever actually know whether I'm bullshitting myself, morally speaking?” -D.F. Wallace

Are You a Good Person?

Equality

I love this quote:

“The goodness of a person is normally judged based upon how they act towards those whom they consider to be less fortunate than themselves. This has become the standard for measuring the goodness of a person. But this is erroneous. It is in fact very easy to be good to those whom you consider to be less fortunate than yourself. You know what's difficult? Being good to those you envy! That is what's difficult to do! People believe themselves to practice equality because they are good to those who are lesser than they are, but this is not equality if they do not show the same amount of goodness to the people who happen to be more than they are. I always look at how a person treats those who are more than they are, and that is how I determine the goodness in a person. Because the other option is just too easy. The other option comes with all benefit and no loss.” C. Joybell

Are You a Good Person?

How do we Know?

If you spend your whole life pretending to be good, then you are indistinguishable from a good person, because only you know your own thoughts and morals. If, before your actions, you constantly ask yourself, "What would a good person do?" and do it, then you may as well be a good person.

There is so much hypocrisy in this world, we can never know for sure. For example, it's forbidden to kill others, and therefore all murderers must be punished. Unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions. Right is right even if no one is doing it, and wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.

The distance between good and evil is the success.

Are You a Good Person?

It is sad how rare it is.

It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by lies. Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. This is rare. We live in a world where good people are taken advantage of by the bad people. Bad people are never bad in their own eyes, while good people are never good enough in their own eyes.

Are You a Good Person?

(If these philosophical takes get annoying then tell me lol. I love morality and emotions and stuff. Hence a couple other takes: Bad Body Image and Self Pity and Living While Dying )

Are You a Good Person?
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