What is your definition of a good person?

A person who is honest, responsible, thinks of those around them, helps others. The helping others part does not need to be on a large scale for me, it can be as simple as small things that are very little effort, but demonstrate wanting to help, and having an understanding we are a part of our families, community and the world.

Most people I know I consider to be good people. Why would I associate with bad people?

I am in total agreement with your husband, as that is part of my definition of a good person. Genuinely kind-hearted people who are honest and would never harm another being in any way, shape or form, are high up in my book!

I am fortunate enough to have many of these people in my life, including but not limited to my parents (especially my mom), my favorite aunt, and some of my closest friends and their families who have proven this to me time and again with even the simplest of gestures.

When I think of a good person, I think of Jimmy Carter. His one-term presidency wasn’t great, but I always believed him to be an honest and deeply feeling man—and he certainly has demonstrated that in the years since with all the work he and his wife have done with the disadvantaged.

@JLeslie @jordym84 @Pachyderm_In_The_Room , So if a person does good deeds but does it because they feel it is their responsibility as a fellow human being and not out of love, does it void their good person status? Does their good deed have to be done from their heart to qualify?
Lets take for example a church goer who volunteers at a soup kitchen because their faith says that they must care for others but they don’t do it because they love doing it and makes them feel good.
Then lets take the good deed doer who does things because it makes them feel loved.
There are also those who do good things because they want to be loved.
So which person is the good one? Does motive matter or just the action?

@Pandora I don’t think this merits overanalyzation. As with anything else in life, there are many, many, many different scenarios and motivations. The more we analyze it, the less meaningful it becomes. Sometimes things just are…

To answer your question, though, if a person is choosing to help others, whether it’s because they genuinely enjoy doing it or, as in one of your examples, their faith compels them to do so, they still get brownie points in my book because they’re actually taking the time to help when they could just as easily not help.

There is not one set definition of a good person and it all varies with the person making the judgment.

Great question, by the way!! :)

@Pandora Tough question. I think the motive does matter. But, I think doing it out of responsibility possibly counts as much as doing it out of love. Sacrificing time out of a sense of responsibility shows some degree of integrity in my opinion.

I think your standard for good might be much higher than mine. Someone who is extremely charitable, I would call them that, extremely charitable, but good has a pretty low threshold for me I guess.

Good is a subjective term. You can be kind, helpful and caring, but it’s up to the individual to decide what is “good”. If you’re concerned with your actions being truly altruistic or not, just think of it from the point of view of the people who are affected by your actions; do you heavily value whether you appear to be good?

“Don’t go on discussing what a good person should be, just be one.”
Marcus Aurelius

@Prosb No, since I try to do most things under the radar. I’m the type of person who feels awkward when someone thanks me for doing something that I feel was necessary for me to do. I really don’t care what others outside of those I love, think of me. I am not the type of person who does things because love or religion motivate me. I just feel if I can do something to help someone out then why shouldn’t I? Especially when it requires very little. I feel everyone should be that way and I treat others as I would like to be treated. But I don’t feel that makes me a good person. At least not that. I still don’t know what a good person really is. I mean someone like Ghandi is saint-like so that is way beyond good.
When my husband answered my question, I then pointed out that his mother is then considered a good person. He said she wasn’t because she was motivated to do things so she can manipulate others. So that is what made me wonder about what is considered good.

@ucme If we don’t discuss it than how will we know if we are on the right track of being a good person? I honestly asked my husband because I started to wonder if I was a good person. I mean, I think I am but the more I thought about it the more I wondered what my definition of a good person was. I feel my dad was a very good person but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I knew him from the outside. I did not really ever know his motives. So I wondered if motive counts or simply what someone puts out.

As I see it, “goodness” in its most basic form is a desire for the well-being of others. Healthy people also desire their own well-being, of course, and that doesn’t make them less good; but the good person is one for whom the well-being of others is integral to their own well-being. The good person doesn’t, in other words, look at well-being as a zero sum game where my well-being can come at the expense of others’ well-being, or where I can be just fine while others around me suffer.

“Trustworthiness” can be roughly synonymous with goodness, since it implies confidence that this person will take your welfare to heart as being important to his own.

I’m lucky to work with a bunch of good people, mostly because the nature of the work itself (providing disabled people with technology to make their lives easier) attracts people who want to see things get better for others. These people will never get rich or famous doing this, and often end up crawling on the floor in places that smell vaguely of urine. But none of that matters.

@Pandora It wasn’t me maam, Marcus made me say it :)
Look, we could all sit here & list a whole host of qualities that mark out goodness, but it’s the inner belief that counts. Know that you’re a good person without displaying arrogance & you can’t go far wrong.

It’s similar to Justice Stuart Potter trying to define pornography.

“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material…within that shorthand description [“hard-core pornography”]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.”

I think a person with a good heart does not pick and choose who they are kind to. They are kind to everyone.

^^Nicely put!! I love it!

Integrity and inner decency.

A person who is polite, thoughtful of others, respectful, kind and honest.

Me. I’m the very definition of a nice person. Well, in my opinion.

@jonsblond GA.

I think someone is truly a good person, even if they are not religious or “spiritual”, who would still have some sort of moral code, and is kind, considerate, helpful, tolerant, accepting about a lot of things, and is open minded.

Someone who does the right thing when nobody’s looking.

Life Lessons from Atticus Finch. Truly, this literary character is my “good person” role model.

*NOTE: Ignore the fact that the link is about ‘Lessons in Manliness’ <gag>. It really should be titled “How to be a Decent Human Being.”

One who follows the Golden Rule.

A good person is a person who most of the times does not hurt anyone and who doesn’t usually get hurt by anyone. A good person is a person who always tries to make others happy and who sees happiness in everything. Other definitions of a good person:
A good person is a person who:
does not lie to or deceive others.
doesn’t cheat or steal.
doesn’t force his/er beliefs on others.
doesn’t judge others.
treats Others with respect, be nice.

Nice is as nice does! I don’t think such person exists.

It’s usually more than one thing. Good is such an open term that what is good for you can be not so good for someone else. I would say caring iscertainly a positive feature. What you described certainly contributes to your goodness.

When your partner pays you a compliment, run with it.