What It Means to be a Good Person

One of my life's major quests has been to figure out what is genuine goodness. There are all sorts of things out there that think themselves good but aren't; but true goodness is found in all sorts of places, some of them expected and some less. Fortunately I have known any number of people who are genuinely good, and I have learned from them.

What are the qualities of a good person?

A good person is caring. He cares about other people (and in some cases nature as well). He wants to do the right thing by the next person, by the civilization and by life as such. Whether they take this direction into science, or business, or environmentalism, they become a force for good; and the world benefits from their actions.

A good person is kind. He does not want to see others suffer and seeks to relieve suffering wherever there is suffering. There are any number of ways in which this can be done; and both with the clean energy entrepreneurs, professors and teachers who dedicate themselves to developing people's minds, people fighting domestic violence, and any number of other directions, the good person operates from the position of kindness and makes kindness count in the world.

A good person is responsible. He recognizes how his actions affect other people and nature and arranges his activities in such a way as to best impact both. He takes responsibility for his effect on the rest of the universe and strives to make sure that it is the best impact that it can be.

A good person is wise. He pursues wisdom in order to make sure that his decisions are the best that they can be. Specifically he strives to make sure that his actions impact upon the world in the best possible way and pursues wisdom to make sure that they do so.

A good person is principled. He chooses to hold himself up to a high standard of conduct and refuses to do wrongful things. He demands of himself the best and leads by example, so that other people also know what it means to be a good person.

A good person may or may not practice self-sacrifice; most problems do not require self-sacrifice to solve and are much better solved through applied intelligence. However in all cases a good person would be willing to help other people and direct them to better ways of being and better ways of life.

There is more – much more; but I don't want to bore the reader, so I will say this. Anyone can be a good person if he puts his mind to it. And that is even the case with people such as sociopaths and narcissists who are regarded as incurably evil. Anything with capacity for choice is capable of right choice. And that means: Everyone.