50 Fun Facts About Kindness

World Kindness Day is observed on which date?

It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement, a coalition of national kindness NGOs.

In which year did the World Kindness Movement introduce World Kindness Day?

Australia put the day on the school calendar for more than 9,000 schools in 2012, and Singapore first observed it in 2009.

In the United States, Random Acts of Kindness Day falls on which date?

New Zealand, where the day began in 2004, celebrates it on 1 September; suggested acts include paying for the next car at the drive-thru.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, founded in 1995, is headquartered in which US city?

Its founder, Will Glennon, went on to chair World Kindness USA.

'Pay it forward' means repaying a good deed how?

The concept is also called serial reciprocity, and it even exists in contract law as a way of settling loans.

The phrase 'pay it forward' may have been coined by Lily Hardy Hammond in a book published in which year?

The book was In the Garden of Delight; Robert Heinlein's 1951 novel Between Planets helped popularise the phrase.

Which child actor starred in the 2000 film Pay It Forward, based on Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel?

Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt co-starred; the boy's school project is to do three good deeds and ask each recipient to pass them on.

The principle of treating others as you would want to be treated is known as what?

Its negative form, 'do not do to others what you would not want done to you', is sometimes called the Silver Rule.

Which Chinese philosopher may have first stated 'do not do to others what you would not want done to you'?

His concept of ren, shared humanity, is read by scholars as kindness toward others, though he advised repaying hatred with justice, not kindness.

Asked to explain the whole Torah on one foot, which sage said, 'What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow'?

He added: 'this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.'

Jesus proclaimed 'do to others as you would have them do to you' during which famous teaching?

Versions of the rule turn up in most of the world's religions and creeds.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the traveller is robbed on the road from Jerusalem to which city?

A priest and a Levite pass by before the Samaritan, an outsider from a rival community, stops to help.

'Good Samaritan laws' protect people who do what?

They exist so bystanders don't hesitate for fear of being sued; civil-law countries tend instead to impose a legal duty to rescue.

The word 'kindness' comes from an Old English root related to 'kind', meaning what?

The suggestion is that kindness was first seen as the natural way to treat one's own kin, and dates in English from about 1300.

In his Rhetoric, Aristotle defined kindness (charis) as what?

He said it should be rendered freely, 'not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself'.

Which philosopher argued an act has moral worth only when done from duty, not fleeting feeling?

Nietzsche took the opposite tack, calling kindness and pity 'slave-morality' virtues that could stifle greatness.

Which French philosopher popularised, and possibly coined, the word 'altruism' in the 19th century?

The founding sociologist's coinage is now a major topic for evolutionary biologists studying why animals help each other.

Economist James Andreoni's term for the selfish pleasure people feel from 'doing good' is what?

It explains why donors like plaques with their names on, and why government grants don't fully crowd out private giving.

Which hormone is nicknamed the 'cuddle hormone' or 'love hormone' for its role in bonding?

It's released during hugging, childbirth and breastfeeding, and is often invoked in the science of why kindness feels good.

According to kindness research, what do adults who volunteer report compared with non-volunteers?

In one experiment, people told to spend money on someone else ended up happier than those who spent it on themselves, whatever the amount.

Studies at which university used games with babies to conclude that kindness is inherent to human beings?

Related work traces empathy to 'motor mirroring' in the first months of life, leading to toddlers comforting distressed peers.

Which Robert Trivers concept explains why animals help others who will help them back later?

Vampire bats regurgitating blood for hungry roost-mates are the textbook example.

Which R. J. Palacio novel about a boy with facial differences launched the 'Choose Kind' movement?

Auggie Pullman starts fifth grade at Beecher Prep; the book became a 2017 film with Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson.

R. J. Palacio drew inspiration for her Auggie Pullman novel partly from a song by which singer?

The other spark was her own son's distressed reaction to seeing a girl with facial deformities.

Where did Megan Murphy leave the painted rock that began the Kindness Rocks Project in 2015?

Painted 'kindness rocks' have since spread to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Haiti, with Facebook groups tracking where they turn up.

GivingTuesday, launched in 2012 at New York's 92nd Street Y, falls on the Tuesday after which holiday?

It was pitched as the generous answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and became an independent nonprofit in 2019.

Which Albanian-Indian nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize?

The citation praised her 'work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress'; she was canonised in 2016.

Which organisation has won the Nobel Peace Prize three times, more than any other recipient?

Its wins came in 1917, 1944 and 1963; the UN refugee agency has won twice.

In 1969, Fred Rogers famously testified before a US Senate subcommittee to save funding for what?

Nixon wanted to halve LBJ's $20 million; Rogers' gentle six-minute plea won over Senator Pastore and is still watched by millions online.

Which steel magnate wrote the 1889 essay 'The Gospel of Wealth' and funded thousands of public libraries?

His libraries went up across the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, and he also backed world peace and scientific research.

The Bantu philosophy often translated as 'I am because we are' is called what?

Desmond Tutu's 'ubuntu theology' carried it to the wider world after South Africa's transition to democracy.

The Hebrew word 'chesed', frequent in the Psalms, is traditionally translated as what?

It covers both people's devotion to God and God's mercy toward humanity.

Ahimsa, the ancient Indian principle of non-violence toward all living beings, is a key virtue of Hinduism, Buddhism and which other religion?

Gandhi took the principle into politics; in Hinduism it can be expressed through vegetarianism and caring for the vulnerable.

According to the Quran verse on kindness, 'kind words and forgiveness are better than' what?

The point is that reminding people of a favour with hurtful words can cancel out the good of the gift.

Which New Zealand prime minister made kindness a theme of her leadership through the Christchurch attacks and COVID-19?

Her response to the 2019 attacks, wearing a headscarf and refusing to name the gunman, was widely praised.

In Netflix's The Kindness Diaries, Leon Logothetis travels the world unable to accept what?

He relies on strangers for food, shelter and fuel, and repays hosts by helping them realise a dream; season one's motorbike was named Kindness 1.

Which philosophers are named as influential to the effective altruism movement?

Its pledging community centres on Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours.

A proposed psychological model splits the trait into three components: emotions, cognitions and what?

Each can be aimed at others or at oneself; both the emotional and thinking parts require mindfulness.

The author of the Analects said hatred should be repaid with what?

'And what will you repay kindness with?' he asked; the answer was kindness with kindness, hatred with justice.

Which schools are cited as listing kindness as a core pillar of their mission?

Research suggests kindness can be taught in the first 20 years of life, with wellbeing gains comparable to teaching gratitude.

In which city is the Nobel Peace Prize awarded, unlike the other Nobel Prizes?

Alfred Nobel's will gave the peace prize to a Norwegian committee; the ceremony was held in Parliament from 1901 to 1904.

Random Acts of Kindness Day began in 2004 in which country, where it falls on 1 September?

The US marks it on 17 February, and Stratford, Ontario, celebrates on 4 November.

Who founded the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation in 1995?

Glennon went on to chair World Kindness USA.

When Singapore first observed World Kindness Day in 2009, what were 45,000 of given away?

Other national traditions include Canada's Kindness Concert and a Global Flashmob staged in 33 cities.

Nietzsche identified kindness and sympathy as central virtues of what?

He argued a morality bent on eliminating all suffering denies life and stifles greatness.

Which central concept of Confucian philosophy is interpreted by scholars as shared humanity or kindness for others?

Confucius saw it as the root of all virtue, beginning with kindness at home and radiating outward to the community.

Which term did Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop coin in 1990 to describe how children see themselves and others in books?

Psychologists at the New School also showed reading literary fiction sharpens the ability to read other people's emotions.

In a workplace experiment on random acts of kindness, whose well-being improved?

Givers additionally reported weaker depressive symptoms and more satisfaction with their jobs and lives.

Kindness interventions improve well-being with results comparable to teaching what?

Studies show kindness can be taught and encouraged throughout the first 20 years of life.

In one experiment, how did consumers who spent money on someone else compare with those who spent it on themselves?

The effect held regardless of how much was spent, one of several hedonic rewards researchers link to kindness.