The old proverb says: “Kind people are the best kind of people. -author unknown”, but it seems that goodness (the highest and most valuable human trait) is completely degraded in the 21st century. The best-known winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (from Bosnia and Herzegovina), writer Ivo Andric once said: “Goodness knows a lot and goodness can do a lot , and speaks only with a smile.” And he was absolutely right. The Italian historian, Cesare Cantù, said: “Goodness is the only treasure, which is increased by dividing”. The old saying which is also well- known says that “a good people are farthest from afar like the Himalayas.” Many writers and historians felt that good people are the happy people, and goodness is by their opinions the greatest human value and ethical category.

Let us remember Franklin’s words: “He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” -Benjamin Franklin or the words from the Graet Sophocles: “One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession.”

It seems, however, that during the 21st century, goodness is slowly losing and disappearing. We often wonder: why is that? There is no concrete answer. The fact is that we live in very turbulent times. Human dignity and empathy are slowly disappearing. The human dimension and benevolence towards others are also lost. Moral intelligence has been compromised and we only have the need to see ourselves. That’s why we do not see other people. Although, sometimes we sympathize with others’ troubles and we are selfless. Altruism is, by definition, complete and unconditionally  love for others. If we often remember the things that hurt us, it means that it is only a matter of time when the need to react to them will be violent and intolerable.

Goodness is often associated with material giving in the 21st century, which is a wrong approach. A man can help others in trouble in a million other ways. The spectrum of manifesting human goodness is enormous. A Swiss poet, Gottfried Keller, said: “A few good people make the room warm, without a stove, roof and windows”. However, in order for people to do things on a proper way and to help others, they must have a kind of stuff to help them with. A poor man can not help a poor man a lot. There are things that can not be spend on sharing. In other words, human knowledge. A smart person can help another person by educating or learning that person something new. That person will not lose any of its knowledge (of its wealth), because knowledge can not be spent. You can show goodness and humanity in the same way, by respecting others and by respecting difference, and all those who are different from you. So, a good person can be considered every human being who is selfless, tolerant, honest, and we know that he will not maliciously hurt anyone. We teach goodness all our life and every day we try to be better people, either by learning from our mistakes or unfortunately by mistakes of others. And one of the wisest men in the world, a Greek thinker and philosopher Socrates said that „It is possible not to renounce goodness, nor to stop learning it“. And he was absolutely wright.