Can kindness be taught?

[baccheion]

Kindness can easily be taught, but not everyone should learn it, and, more importantly, not everyone will want to learn it. People will be very kind, and will go out of their way to be polite if they have a compelling reason to. Kindness is probably easier to teach than empathy.

You know what should be taught, though (or as well)? Resiliency (not being so damn sensitive), perceptiveness, assertiveness, and the thought to get rid of (or to get away from) people that are draining. Sometimes there isn't even a need to go into detail to teach these things, it just has to be brought to the person's attention.

 

[Coriolis]

The heart speaks for character. The hand speaks for action.

Which value is greater, what's inside versus what manifests is open for questioning.

I, for one, prefer to look within myself for the answer rather than on results.

Ultimately, are we idealists or realists?

I am ultimately a realist, but I form my reality as much as possible from my ideals. Ideals not realized are just pie in the sky.

The very idea of kindness implies some relation or interaction with other people. What you have inside may be of great value, but if it never gets out, that value exists only for you and does nothing for others. That seems just like another form of selfishness rather than real kindness. It is what comes out - your actions, how you in fact treat people - that has value for them. Kind actions are very often motivated by internal feelings of kindness, compassion, or connection. If the same action results from some other motivation or feeling, however, it will still have the same value for others receiving it.