A study published in an online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides the first laboratory evidence of something many of us have known all along: acts of kindness are contagious. According to the article, when people experience acts of kindness, they “pay it forward” by being kind to others. This creates a cascade of kind acts which influences the behavior of dozens of others. This means kindness is a very powerful act. By performing only a few acts of kindness each day we can positively impact the lives of a fairly large number of people. As Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert put it, “Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
One Sentence Wisdom
- “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” — Mark Twain
- “The miracle of kindness is that it is contagious and something we should all want to pass on and spread to many others.” — Psychology Today
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While a high school junior, age 16, and back in 2005, my daughter was entered in an MLK Day oratorical contest/event. There were several hundred people in the city council auditorium, including several city council members and several guest speakers. Six students ( my daughter the only white student) read their speeches, were judged, and were awarded small trophies. My daughter won 2nd place (she still has the trophy).4
While awarding the trophies the MC commented on a line my daughter had used in her speech, to do “random acts of kindness.” At that time that phrase was not widely used but soon after it blossomed into a national cry. I don’t know where she heard the phrase but it’s power became a movement and today there are websites with lists of potential “Random Acts of Kindness.”
Last, to this date my daughter is a kind, compassionate, and caring person and she still performs those random acts of kindness…