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How nature can make you kinder, happier, and more creative, we are spending more time indoors and online. but recent studies suggest that nature can help our brains and bodies to stay healthy..

I’ve been an avid hiker my whole life. From the time I first strapped on a backpack and headed into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I was hooked on the experience, loving the way being in nature cleared my mind and helped me to feel more grounded and peaceful.

But, even though I’ve always believed that hiking in nature had many psychological benefits, I’ve never had much science to back me up…until now, that is. Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity, and our ability to connect with other people.

“People have been discussing their profound experiences in nature for the last several 100 years—from Thoreau to John Muir to many other writers,” says researcher David Strayer, of the University of Utah. “Now we are seeing changes in the brain and changes in the body that suggest we are physically and mentally more healthy when we are interacting with nature.”

essay on kindness towards nature

While he and other scientists may believe nature benefits our well-being, we live in a society where people spend more and more time indoors and online—especially children. Findings on how nature improves our brains brings added legitimacy to the call for preserving natural spaces—both urban and wild—and for spending more time in nature in order to lead healthier, happier, and more creative lives.

Here are some of the ways that science is showing how being in nature affects our brains and bodies.

mountain walk

1. Being in nature decreases stress

It’s clear that hiking—and any physical activity—can reduce stress and anxiety. But, there’s something about being in nature that may augment those impacts.

In one recent experiment conducted in Japan, participants were assigned to walk either in a forest or in an urban center (taking walks of equal length and difficulty) while having their heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure measured. The participants also filled out questionnaires about their moods, stress levels, and other psychological measures.

Results showed that those who walked in forests had significantly lower heart rates and higher heart rate variability (indicating more relaxation and less stress), and reported better moods and less anxiety, than those who walked in urban settings. The researchers concluded that there’s something about being in nature that had a beneficial effect on stress reduction, above and beyond what exercise alone might have produced.

In another study , researchers in Finland found that urban dwellers who strolled for as little as 20 minutes through an urban park or woodland reported significantly more stress relief than those who strolled in a city center.

The reasons for this effect are unclear; but scientists believe that we evolved to be more relaxed in natural spaces. In a now-classic laboratory experiment by Roger Ulrich of Texas A&M University and colleagues, participants who first viewed a stress-inducing movie, and were then exposed to color/sound videotapes depicting natural scenes, showed much quicker, more complete recovery from stress than those who’d been exposed to videos of urban settings.

These studies and others provide evidence that being in natural spaces— or even just looking out of a window onto a natural scene—somehow soothes us and relieves stress.

Lake-tree

2. Nature makes you happier and less brooding

I’ve always found that hiking in nature makes me feel happier, and of course decreased stress may be a big part of the reason why. But, Gregory Bratman, of Stanford University, has found evidence that nature may impact our mood in other ways, too.

In one 2015 study , he and his colleagues randomly assigned 60 participants to a 50-minute walk in either a natural setting (oak woodlands) or an urban setting (along a four-lane road). Before and after the walk, the participants were assessed on their emotional state and on cognitive measures, such as how well they could perform tasks requiring short-term memory. Results showed that those who walked in nature experienced less anxiety, rumination (focused attention on negative aspects of oneself), and negative affect, as well as more positive emotions, in comparison to the urban walkers. They also improved their performance on the memory tasks.

In another study, he and his colleagues extended these findings by zeroing in on how walking in nature affects rumination—which has been associated with the onset of depression and anxiety—while also using fMRI technology to look at brain activity. Participants who took a 90-minute walk in either a natural setting or an urban setting had their brains scanned before and after their walks and were surveyed on self-reported rumination levels (as well as other psychological markers). The researchers controlled for many potential factors that might influence rumination or brain activity—for example, physical exertion levels as measured by heart rates and pulmonary functions.

Even so, participants who walked in a natural setting versus an urban setting reported decreased rumination after the walk, and they showed increased activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain whose deactivation is affiliated with depression and anxiety—a finding that suggests nature may have important impacts on mood.

Bratman believes results like these need to reach city planners and others whose policies impact our natural spaces. “Ecosystem services are being incorporated into decision making at all levels of public policy, land use planning, and urban design, and it’s very important to be sure to incorporate empirical findings from psychology into these decisions,” he says.

GRAND CANYON

3. Nature relieves attention fatigue and increases creativity.

Today, we live with ubiquitous technology designed to constantly pull for our attention. But many scientists believe our brains were not made for this kind of information bombardment, and that it can lead to mental fatigue, overwhelm, and burnout, requiring “attention restoration” to get back to a normal, healthy state.

Strayer is one of those researchers. He believes that being in nature restores depleted attention circuits, which can then help us be more open to creativity and problem-solving.

“When you use your cell phone to talk, text, shoot photos, or whatever else you can do with your cell phone, you’re tapping the prefrontal cortex and causing reductions in cognitive resources,” he says.

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In a 2012 study , he and his colleagues showed that hikers on a four-day backpacking trip could solve significantly more puzzles requiring creativity when compared to a control group of people waiting to take the same hike—in fact, 47 percent more. Although other factors may account for his results—for example, the exercise or the camaraderie of being out together—prior studies have suggested that nature itself may play an important role. One in Psychological Science found that the impact of nature on attention restoration is what accounted for improved scores on cognitive tests for the study participants.

This phenomenon may be due to differences in brain activation when viewing natural scenes versus more built-up scenes—even for those who normally live in an urban environment. In a recent study conducted by Peter Aspinall at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and colleagues, participants who had their brains monitored continuously using mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) while they walked through an urban green space had brain EEG readings indicating lower frustration, engagement, and arousal, and higher meditation levels while in the green area, and higher engagement levels when moving out of the green area. This lower engagement and arousal may be what allows for attention restoration, encouraging a more open, meditative mindset.

It’s this kind of brain activity—sometimes referred to as “the brain default network”—that is tied to creative thinking , says Strayer. He is currently repeating his earlier 2012 study with a new group of hikers and recording their EEG activity and salivary cortisol levels before, during, and after a three-day hike. Early analyses of EEG readings support the theory that hiking in nature seems to rest people’s attention networks and to engage their default networks.

Strayer and colleagues are also specifically looking at the effects of technology by monitoring people’s EEG readings while they walk in an arboretum, either while talking on their cell phone or not. So far, they’ve found that participants with cell phones appear to have EEG readings consistent with attention overload, and can recall only half as many details of the arboretum they just passed through, compared to those who were not on a cell phone.

Though Strayer’s findings are preliminary, they are consistent with other people’s findings on the importance of nature to attention restoration and creativity.

“If you’ve been using your brain to multitask—as most of us do most of the day—and then you set that aside and go on a walk, without all of the gadgets, you’ve let the prefrontal cortex recover,” says Strayer. “And that’s when we see these bursts in creativity, problem-solving, and feelings of well-being.”

family hike

4. Nature may help you to be kind and generous

Whenever I go to places like Yosemite or the Big Sur Coast of California, I seem to return to my home life ready to be more kind and generous to those around me—just ask my husband and kids! Now some new studies may shed light on why that is.

In a series of experiments published in 2014, Juyoung Lee, GGSC director Dacher Keltner, and other researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, studied the potential impact of nature on the willingness to be generous, trusting, and helpful toward others, while considering what factors might influence that relationship.

As part of their study, the researchers exposed participants to more or less subjectively beautiful nature scenes (whose beauty levels were rated independently) and then observed how participants behaved playing two economics games—the Dictator Game and the Trust Game—that measure generosity and trust, respectively. After being exposed to the more beautiful nature scenes, participants acted more generously and more trusting in the games than those who saw less beautiful scenes, and the effects appeared to be due to corresponding increases in positive emotion.

In another part of the study, the researchers asked people to fill out a survey about their emotions while sitting at a table where more or less beautiful plants were placed. Afterwards, the participants were told that the experiment was over and they could leave, but that if they wanted to they could volunteer to make paper cranes for a relief effort program in Japan. The number of cranes they made (or didn’t make) was used as a measure of their “prosociality” or willingness to help.

Results showed that the presence of more beautiful plants significantly increased the number of cranes made by participants, and that this increase was, again, mediated by positive emotion elicited by natural beauty. The researchers concluded that experiencing the beauty of nature increases positive emotion—perhaps by inspiring awe, a feeling akin to wonder, with the sense of being part of something bigger than oneself—which then leads to prosocial behaviors.

Support for this theory comes from an experiment conducted by Paul Piff of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues, in which participants staring up a grove of very tall trees for as little as one minute experienced measurable increases in awe, and demonstrated more helpful behavior and approached moral dilemmas more ethically, than participants who spent the same amount of time looking up at a high building.

nature-hike

5. Nature makes you “feel more alive”

With all of these benefits to being out in nature, it’s probably no surprise that something about nature makes us feel more alive and vital . Being outdoors gives us energy, makes us happier, helps us to relieve the everyday stresses of our overscheduled lives, opens the door to creativity, and helps us to be kind to others.

No one knows if there is an ideal amount of nature exposure, though Strayer says that longtime backpackers suggest a minimum of three days to really unplug from our everyday lives. Nor can anyone say for sure how nature compares to other forms of stress relief or attention restoration, such as sleep or meditation. Both Strayer and Bratman say we need a lot more careful research to tease out these effects before we come to any definitive conclusions.

Still, the research does suggest there’s something about nature that keeps us psychologically healthy, and that’s good to know…especially since nature is a resource that’s free and that many of us can access by just walking outside our door. Results like these should encourage us as a society to consider more carefully how we preserve our wilderness spaces and our urban parks.

And while the research may not be conclusive, Strayer is optimistic that science will eventually catch up to what people like me have intuited all along—that there’s something about nature that renews us, allowing us to feel better, to think better, and to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others.

“You can’t have centuries of people writing about this and not have something going on,” says Strayer. “If you are constantly on a device or in front of a screen, you’re missing out on something that’s pretty spectacular: the real world.”

About the Author

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Jill Suttie

Jill Suttie, Psy.D. , is Greater Good ’s former book review editor and now serves as a staff writer and contributing editor for the magazine. She received her doctorate of psychology from the University of San Francisco in 1998 and was a psychologist in private practice before coming to Greater Good .

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Nature Essay for Students and Children

500+ words nature essay.

Nature is an important and integral part of mankind. It is one of the greatest blessings for human life; however, nowadays humans fail to recognize it as one. Nature has been an inspiration for numerous poets, writers, artists and more of yesteryears. This remarkable creation inspired them to write poems and stories in the glory of it. They truly valued nature which reflects in their works even today. Essentially, nature is everything we are surrounded by like the water we drink, the air we breathe, the sun we soak in, the birds we hear chirping, the moon we gaze at and more. Above all, it is rich and vibrant and consists of both living and non-living things. Therefore, people of the modern age should also learn something from people of yesteryear and start valuing nature before it gets too late.

nature essay

Significance of Nature

Nature has been in existence long before humans and ever since it has taken care of mankind and nourished it forever. In other words, it offers us a protective layer which guards us against all kinds of damages and harms. Survival of mankind without nature is impossible and humans need to understand that.

If nature has the ability to protect us, it is also powerful enough to destroy the entire mankind. Every form of nature, for instance, the plants , animals , rivers, mountains, moon, and more holds equal significance for us. Absence of one element is enough to cause a catastrophe in the functioning of human life.

We fulfill our healthy lifestyle by eating and drinking healthy, which nature gives us. Similarly, it provides us with water and food that enables us to do so. Rainfall and sunshine, the two most important elements to survive are derived from nature itself.

Further, the air we breathe and the wood we use for various purposes are a gift of nature only. But, with technological advancements, people are not paying attention to nature. The need to conserve and balance the natural assets is rising day by day which requires immediate attention.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conservation of Nature

In order to conserve nature, we must take drastic steps right away to prevent any further damage. The most important step is to prevent deforestation at all levels. Cutting down of trees has serious consequences in different spheres. It can cause soil erosion easily and also bring a decline in rainfall on a major level.

essay on kindness towards nature

Polluting ocean water must be strictly prohibited by all industries straightaway as it causes a lot of water shortage. The excessive use of automobiles, AC’s and ovens emit a lot of Chlorofluorocarbons’ which depletes the ozone layer. This, in turn, causes global warming which causes thermal expansion and melting of glaciers.

Therefore, we should avoid personal use of the vehicle when we can, switch to public transport and carpooling. We must invest in solar energy giving a chance for the natural resources to replenish.

In conclusion, nature has a powerful transformative power which is responsible for the functioning of life on earth. It is essential for mankind to flourish so it is our duty to conserve it for our future generations. We must stop the selfish activities and try our best to preserve the natural resources so life can forever be nourished on earth.

{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “FAQPage”, “mainEntity”: [ { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Why is nature important?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Nature is an essential part of our lives. It is important as it helps in the functioning of human life and gives us natural resources to lead a healthy life.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “How can we conserve nature?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “We can take different steps to conserve nature like stopping the cutting down of trees. We must not use automobiles excessively and take public transport instead. Further, we must not pollute our ocean and river water.” } } ] }

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World Kindness Day: 20+ Outdoor Acts of Kindness for Kids & Ways to Be Kind to Nature

World Kindness Day is November 13 and we can’t think of a more deserving recipient of our kindness than our planet. Nature is all around us and benefits us in more ways than we can imagine. Our planet needs our help, protection and kindness. This weekend, we hope to inspire you to get outside with your kids and perform some of these outdoor acts of kindness and discover new ways to be kind to nature. 

20+ Outdoor Acts of Kindness for Kids & Ways to Be Kind to Nature

Celebrating World Kindness Day outside

World Kindness Day is right around the corner and what better way to inspire kindness than to take a moment and be kind to our planet. Each year on November 13th, people all over the world come together and give kindness to each other, themselves, and the world.

World Kindness Day was designed to highlight good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness for good. Kindness is a fundamental part of the human condition which bridges the divides of race, religion, politics, gender, and location. 

This shared movement reminds us all that compassion really does bind us together on this planet. This year, we encourage you to reach out with acts of kindness to your families, neighborhoods, communities, and to our shared planet.

essay on kindness towards nature

Photo credit: @kidsdelmundo

20+ kid-friendly ways to be kind to nature

Of course, we want you to be kind to everyone, but since we’re all about getting kids outside and into nature, today we’re going to share some ways that you and your kids can be kind to nature and our planet. If you are in need of a little inspiration and some ideas for ways you can be kind to nature, we’re sharing over 20 ideas to get you and your kids started. And the best part…you can do a lot of these acts of kindness outside! 

1. Pick up trash

This is probably one of the easiest ways to get your kids involved in giving back to your community and nature. As you walk through your neighborhood and local parks, pick up the trash you see. Make a point to go out on a hike or walk with the sole intention of cleaning up. Kids love being helpful and it really is so beneficial to the maintenance of the natural areas we all love and enjoy. Plus, you’re setting an example of a lifelong love of their planet and instilling a personal responsibility to take care of nature.

2. Practice Leave No Trace principles

While out in nature, teach your kids Leave No Trace principles and practice them together. Unless you have specific permission to do otherwise, stay on the trail, leave nature treasures where you found them, don’t build rock cairns, don’t litter, and respect wildlife. Always leave a place better than you found it. Make sure that you also explain why you should (or should not) do things when you’re with your kids so they understand the implications of your actions and the reasoning behind them. Not sure where to start? Learn more about outdoor etiquette and manners for kids with this post.

3. Join a community cleanup

Bring your kids along and join in on a local community trash cleanup. These are almost always kid-friendly and event coordinators will be happy to find a child-safe area for you to help in the cleanup efforts. Kids love to be involved in adult projects and they are sure to be rewarded for their volunteer efforts with smiles and kind words by other adult volunteers. If you don’t have a community clean-up project in place, organize your own! Gather some friends and go out together to make a difference. 

4. Plant a tree

Give back directly, by planting a native tree or shrub in your yard. Fall is a great time to plant trees. Visit a local nursery to get the best advice on which tree to plant and how to care for it. Let your kids be part of the process from beginning to end. Not only will kids love digging the hole and helping care for the tree, but they get to watch their tree grow for years. 

essay on kindness towards nature

Photo credit: @dimples.and.the.blonde

5. Plant a wildflower garden

The bees, butterflies, and other pollinators love native flowers. Planting (or planning if it is the wrong time of year) which flowers are beneficial to your local environment is one wonderful way to spread a little kindness to nature. Here’s a great post on planting a pollinator garden with lots of native plants and flowers.

Or, if you’re looking for a fun way to explore native wildflowers with your kids or make a fun homemade gift, you can create seed bombs with your kids (in paper or ball form): DIY Eco-friendly Plantable Seed Paper and How to Make DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs with Kids .

essay on kindness towards nature

Photo credit: @c_l_allofus

6. Feed the birds

Winter can be rough on wildlife, especially birds. Spread some kindness by feeding the birds this fall and winter. It’s simple and even provides hours of entertainment. Make your own bird feeders and then watch the birds together. Gather some ideas on making bird feeders for your backyard birds with these two posts: Eco-friendly Bird Feeders to Make with Kids and Easy Bird Feeders to Make with Kids .

Anytime is a great time to dive into the world of composting and recycling your food waste scraps. Your kids will learn all about food waste, get to see how food breaks down, and less food waste ends up in the landfill. If you have space, you can create a composting station directly on the ground. If you don’t (or if you live in a city or neighborhood), this composting tumbler is a great option. When you start your compost project, make sure to include a few bins for little hands so the kids can help out, too! Mother Nature and your local landfill will gladly accept that kindness. 

Outdoor Acts of Kindness for Kids & Ways to Be Kind to Nature

Photo credit: @robbs_rule

8. Start a wormery

Kids love worms! And so does the earth. If your kids are super into worms, we have a great project that will be fun and beneficial. Creating a wormery with kids is the perfect way to learn about food scraps and food waste with kids. Your kids will learn a ton, the worms will be well-fed, and keeping food waste out of trash helps our planet. It’s a win-win kindness activity for all.

9. Join a seed swap

If you garden every year, then you know that you never (or rarely) use all the seeds you buy! Or maybe you have varieties of plants that are wonderful and you save the seeds each year. Instead of tossing the extra seeds in the trash, donate your extra seeds to your local seed swap. Seed swaps are very educational and are a great way to teach kids the difference between plant hybrids and heirlooms. Heirloom seeds are often handed down through families and might hail from other parts of the world. Take your kids with you to the swap and let them help you find the perfect seeds to plant in your garden. 

World Kindness Day for Kids - outdoor edition

Photo credit: @kirsten_alice_photography

10. Join or start a community garden

Interested in gardening and don’t have the space or have no idea where to begin? Join a community garden! If one doesn’t exist, you could even start one. This is a great way to volunteer with your kids, learn about growing your own food, and even eat locally grown food.

11. Reduce your use of single-use plastics

Teach your children all about how single-use plastics end up in giant piles of trash and how cutting back (or eliminating) these types of plastics is beneficial to nature. Not only will your family be helping the Earth right now, but you are helping to teach the next generation a better way to care for our planet. Examples of single-use plastics are straws and plastic utensils, water bottles, baggies, single-use coffee pods, takeout containers, coffee cup lids, etc.

Learn more about how to dive into the topic of sustainability with your kids with this post: Garbage Collecting, Recycling, and Sustainability for Kids .

celebrate world kindness day in nature outside

Photo credit: @okoshifarm

12. Volunteer with your kids

There are so many ways to be kind to nature and volunteering with your kids is one of the best. Your community likely has environmental groups, animal rescues, wildlife conservation groups, and other nature-focused organizations you can spend your time helping. If your kids are not enough to tag along, set an example by volunteering yourself and sharing your experiences with your kids. Learn more on how to volunteer with kids here .

13. Save water

The little efforts we put into our everyday activities really do add up. Teach your kids all the little ways they can reduce the amount of water they use each day. Water is a precious resource on our planet and learning how to conserve it is a kindness our Earth and everyone on it will appreciate. Some quick ideas for conserving water: turn off the water when you brush your teeth, take shorter showers, wash the dishes at least once a week by hand instead of using the dishwasher, and don’t water your lawn during the summer (or better yet replace your lawn with native plants or a wonderful garden).

14. Reduce electricity usage

As with water, reducing electricity usage is beneficial to our planet and kids can learn a lot of ways to do it. Easy ways include turning off the light when you leave a room, spending an hour each evening together in one room (or outside) with all the other lights and devices off, installing energy-efficient light bulbs, not standing with the refrigerator door open (keep warm air out), hang drying laundry, unplugging unused devices, and using natural light when possible.

Shop local and small - ways for kids to care for the planet

Photo credit: @sage.and.summit

15. Shop at a farmer’s markets and u-pick farms

Shopping local and small is a wonderful way to spread kindness in your community and help out our planet too. When you buy food and other goodies from farmer’s markets or local farms, you are reducing the carbon footprint of the food you eat. Local food travels significantly less far from the farm to your plate. Plus, children get to interact with local farmers and food vendors, which spreads smiles and good cheer. Learn more about exploring farmer’s markets with kids here .

16. Raise and donate money to the local environmental group

Spending time raising money for a good cause is such a great way to spend time with your kids. Maybe you bake cookies and make hot chocolate together and sell them on your street corner. Rake leaves and donate the money. Host a yard sale. Maybe have your children come up with a goal and use social media to help them reach it. There are so many options out there and plenty of time to make it happen. After all, teaching and learning kindness through giving is a wonderful life lesson.

Outdoor Acts of Kindness for Kids

Photo credit: @jannaprange

17. Write a letter to elected officials

Get your children involved in politics and help them write letters to elected officials sharing their thoughts on ways to help our environment. Everyone likes to get mail, especially from kids, right?

18. Carpool

This time of year is incredibly busy with sports and school. Offer to carpool with another family to reduce car emissions. Not only will you be helping another family, but you are being kind to Mother Nature too.

Ride Your Bike - ways for kids to be kind to nature

Photo credit: @stacey.raising.boys

19. Ride your bikes

If you live close enough to school or community businesses and events, consider riding your bikes instead of taking the car. Talk to your kids about why you are opting for the bike lane and set an example by using your bike whenever you can. Biking or walking just one mile a day for a year could save 330 pounds of carbon dioxide—that’s the same as planting four trees and letting them grow for 10 years! This also helps kids be active, connect with their neighborhood and gain a sense of direction.

20. Use public transportation

Not all of us have this option, but you absolutely should give it a go if you can. Kids love riding buses, trams, subways, other public transportation options. This is especially true for little kids who require car seats in the car but get some freedom when taking public transit. Not only are you reducing emissions (for which nature thanks you), but you get to spend time with your family and give your kids an eco-friendly adventure.

21. Shop second-hand shops

There is so much clothing, toys, and other products sitting in trash dumps all over the world. Our consumer culture creates a ton of waste. Did you know that so many things you want and need can be bought second-hand? Instead of buying a bunch of new gifts for the holidays this year, buy some gently used items instead and encourage your children to do the same. Or when your children need new clothing or your family wants a new board game, puzzle, or book, go to a thrift store or used book store and see what you find. You are helping to reduce waste by reusing items and that is a kindness nature needs.

20+ Outdoor Acts of Kindness for Kids & Ways to Be Kind to Nature

Photo credit: @jhennyloouuu

22. Use libraries and Little Free Libraries

Sharing is caring and what better way to spread kindness than through sharing books? Instead of buying new books, utilize libraries to find new-to-you books. Your local library is sure to carry the majority of books you could ever want to read and almost all of them have ways to request books they do not yet carry. Plus, Little Free Libraries are all over the place and are such a fun way to share books you are done with and grab new books too.

23. Help your kids organize a clothing and toy swap

So many of the toys we buy our kids and the clothing we wear are in great shape when we are done with them. This is especially true of children’s clothing because kids outgrow them so quickly. Your kids will love to spread kindness by helping you organize a clothing or toy swap between their friends and families. Maybe a school, your place of employment, or a local community organization would like to host or you have space in your garage or yard. It can be between friends or a whole community event. Get the kids involved with sorting and set up and then let them find some new-to-them items for all their hard work.

24. Organize a craft supply exchange

Similar to a clothing and toy swap, a craft supply exchange is a great way to be kind to nature and lets you re-distribute craft supplies you are no longer using. Your kids will love to help organize, sort, and find new craft supplies. Not only are these sorts of exchanges spreading kindness within your community, but Mother Nature will be happy the items were utilized instead of tossed in the trash.

essay on kindness towards nature

Photo credit: @thespencersadventures

25. Set up a scrap paper station

So much paper gets thrown away that could still be put to good use. Be kind to nature by getting more use out of scrap paper. Instead of throwing out (or even recycling) perfectly good paper that’s only been used on one side, set up a scrap paper station in your home. Add all the worksheets and papers that come home with your kids from school. Add printed paper that you no longer need. If the paper has a blank side, you can still use it for lists, notes, drawing, coloring, and jotting down messages. It’ll give that paper a little extra life before going into the recycle bin.

26. Know what’s recyclable (and what’s not)

Knowing what can and cannot be recycled in your area is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure that you are diverting as much of your waste from landfills as possible, while avoiding recycling contamination through proper separation. Here are the different categories of waste. Some of these categories can be recycled and others cannot. (1) Organic waste: food waste, grass, leaves, eggshells, coffee grinds, tea bags. (2) Glass: white and colored glass. (3) Plastic/metal: plastic bottles, plastic packages, jars, cans. (4) Paper: cardboard, paper bags, paper cups, paper. (5) Toxic waste: printer ink, lightbulb, batteries, electronic waste. (6) Residue: whatever doesn’t fit the others, such as used diapers, animal waste. 

27. Spend time outside

Yup, even just spending time outside as a family in all the green spaces is being kind to nature. The more time you spend outside learning about nature and being a part of it, the more you’ll learn to respect and appreciate it. Just make sure to leave the areas you enjoy better than you found it and Mother Nature will be happy.

essay on kindness towards nature

Kindness and nature books for kids

If you want to help inspire your children to find ways to give back and be kind to nature on their own, reading them books about kindness and the ways our planet needs help is sure to set them on the right track. Here are just a few of the many wonderful books available to get you started.

  • I Choose to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle by Elizabeth Estrada
  • Kindness Grows by Britta Teckentrup
  • Manu The Kiwi of Kindness by Rosie Chenault
  • The Mess that We Made by Michelle Lord
  • Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby
  • One Earth by Eileen Spinelli
  • Save the Ocean (Save the Earth) by Bethany Stahl
  • You Can Change the World by Lucy Bell
  • We Are the Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

How do you plan to be kind to nature with your kids?

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Beauty About The Nature

To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty and light the universe with their admonishing smile.

The Stars Awaken a Certain Reverence, Because Though Always Present, They Are Inaccessible;

but all natural objects make a kindred impression when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind. We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects. It is this which distinguishes the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet . The charming landscape which I saw this morning, is indubitably made up of some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet . This is the best part of these men's farms, yet to this, their warranty deeds give no title. To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other;

who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, — he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight.

Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith.

There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,

— no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, — master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.

The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable.

I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The waving of the boughs in the storm is new to me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was thinking justly or doing right.

Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both. It is necessary to use these pleasures with great temperance. For, nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it. Then, there is a kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.

Chapter I from Nature , published as part of Nature; Addresses and Lectures

What Is The Meaning Behind Nature, The Poem?

Emerson often referred to nature as the "Universal Being" in his many lectures. It was Emerson who deeply believed there was a spiritual sense of the natural world which felt was all around him.

Going deeper still in this discussion of the "Universal Being", Emerson writes, "The aspect of nature is devout. Like the figure of Jesus, she stands with bended head, and hands folded upon the breast. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship."

It's common sense that "nature" is everything you see that is NOT man-made, or changed by man (trees, foliage, mountains, etc.), but Emerson reminds us that nature was set forth to serve man. This is the essence of human will, for man to harness nature. Every object in nature has its own beauty. Therefore, Emerson advocates to view nature as a reality by building your own world and surrounding yourself with natural beauty.

  • The purpose of science is to find the theory of nature.
  • Nature wears the colors of the Spirit.
  • A man is fed, not to fill his belly, but so he may work.
  • Each natural action is graceful.

"Material objects are necessarily kinds of scoriae of the substantial thoughts of the Creator, which must always preserve an exact relation to their first origin; in other words, visible nature must have a spiritual and moral side."

This quote is cited in numerous works and it is attributed to a "French philosopher." However, no name can be found in association with this quote.

What is the main point of Nature, by Emerson?

The central theme of Emerson's famous essay "Nature" is the harmony that exists between the natural world and human beings. In "Nature," Ralph Waldo Emerson contends that man should rid himself of material cares and instead of being burdened by unneeded stress, he can enjoy an original relation with the universe and experience what Emerson calls "the sublime."

What is the central idea of the essay Nature, by Emerson?

For Emerson, nature is not literally God but the body of God’s soul. ”Nature,” he writes, is “mind precipitated.” Emerson feels that to realize one’s role in this respect fully is to be in paradise (similar to heaven itself).

What is Emerson's view of the Nature of humans?

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Ralph Waldo Emerson left the ministry to pursue a career in writing and public speaking. Emerson became one of America's best known and best-loved 19th-century figures. More About Emerson

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"Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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  • Published: 20 December 2019

Empathy and compassion toward other species decrease with evolutionary divergence time

  • Aurélien Miralles 1 ,
  • Michel Raymond 2   na1 &
  • Guillaume Lecointre 1   na1  

Scientific Reports volume  9 , Article number:  19555 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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  • Human behaviour
  • Phylogenetics

Currently the planet is inhabited by several millions of extremely diversified species. Not all of them arouse emotions of the same nature or intensity in humans. Little is known about the extent of our affective responses toward them and the factors that may explain these differences. Our online survey involved 3500 raters who had to make choices depending on specific questions designed to either assess their empathic perceptions or their compassionate reactions toward an extended photographic sampling of organisms. Results show a strong negative correlation between empathy scores and the divergence time separating them from us. However, beyond a certain time of divergence, our empathic perceptions stabilize at a minimum level. Compassion scores, although based on less spontaneous choices, remain strongly correlated to empathy scores and time of divergence. The mosaic of features characterizing humans has been acquired gradually over the course of the evolution, and the phylogenetically closer a species is to us, the more it shares common traits with us. Our results could be explained by the fact that many of these traits may arouse sensory biases. These anthropomorphic signals could be able to mobilize cognitive circuitry and to trigger prosocial behaviors usually at work in human relationships.

Introduction

“ Sympathy beyond the confines of man, that is, humanity to the lower animals, seems to be one of the latest moral acquisitions. (…). This virtue, one of the noblest with which man is endowed, seems to arise incidentally from our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely diffused, until they are extended to all sentient beings ”.Charles Darwin, 1871 1 .

Whether it be for nutrition, recreational and ritual practices, research or wildlife management, man’s interactions with other organisms are countless, complex and go back to the roots of humankind. The nature of these interactions is not restricted to their utilitarian function. They also convey a diversified and ambivalent emotional component, which can resurface with intensity in social debates about animal welfare or nature conservation, and may even lead to radical actions under certain circumstances 2 , 3 .

Among the numerous species having evolved on Earth, all the different living organisms do not affect humans evenly. This imbalance is so marked that even scientific research on biodiversity or conservation efforts present a significant bias in favor of our societal inclinations for particular taxa 4 , 5 . Several factors have been advanced to explain these preferences, such as aesthetics, body size or feeling of vulnerability 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 . Nevertheless, the emotional perceptions we can feel for a member of a given species seems to be largely related to its ability to arouse anthropomorphic projections (attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities). Species exhibiting physical, behavioral or cognitive similarities with humans tend to evoke more positive affect than those without 6 , and among the different classes of vertebrates, our empathic responses appears to be more important for taxa that are closely related to us 10 , 11 , 12 .

Ironically, these comparative studies dealing with anthropomorphic perceptions of biodiversity are mainly restricted to mammals, and in a less extent to the other vertebrates. Moreover, mainly undertaken by cognitive or conservation scientists, these questions have received very little interest from an evolutionary biology perspective. To the extent of our knowledge, they have never been addressed using an adequate comparative methodology, i.e. based on a phylogenetic analytic framework. Several basic but fundamental questions are therefore left unanswered about our ability to connect emotionally with other organisms. Does it apply to all living beings or is it limited to a particular perimeter? To what extent does phylogenetic proximity explain our ability to understand their emotions and to express sympathy towards them? Does it decrease linearly with the time of phylogenetic divergence separating them from us, or stepwise, depending on particular level of organization, i.e. corresponding to evolutionary grades? What is the nature of the stimuli at the origin of these perceptions and how can they arouse in us emotions comparable to those usually expressed within human relationships? And in a broader extent, how can we explain in the frame of the natural selection paradigm, the existence of altruistic behaviors between different species?

In order to fill some of these gaps, the present investigatory project was designed to provide the first cartography of the living world through human empathy-related responsiveness it may arouse, and to interpret its variations in a phylogenetic comparative framework. Our online survey involved 3500 raters who had to make preference choices over an extended photographic sampling of organisms, designed to be as representative as possible of the phylogenetic diversity of life (microscopic organisms excluded). Choices were driven by two different questions. Indeed, as there are many different definitions – and a nebulous usage – of the term empathy , and a wide array of mental states and notions related to this concept (ex. sympathy, cognitive or affective empathy, compassion, self-other distinction, affect sharing or emotional contagion 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ), two different questions were formulated in order to distinguish empathic-like perceptions from compassionate-like responses. The notion of empathy is presently referring to the capability to connect with one another at an emotional level 14 , 17 . The driven question proposed to the raters to assess their empathic preferences was “ I feel like I’m better able to understand the feelings or the emotions of [choice among a pair of pictures representing different organisms]”. In contrast, the notion of compassion (also termed empathic concern) has been used here to refer to the feeling of concern for the suffering of others, associated with a motivation to help 13 , 18 , 19 . The corresponding question proposed to raters was “ If these two individuals were in danger of death, I will spare the life of [choice among a pair of pictures] as a priority ” (Fig.  1 ).

figure 1

Experimental procedure. Based on a focused question, each evaluator had 22 pairs of pictures to evaluate (randomly drawn from a total of 52 species). The question, also randomly drawn at the beginning of the test, was intended to assess either empathic or compassionate preferences. (photos by A. Miralles).

For the question related to empathy, the probability to be chosen decreased with the phylogenetic distance relatively to humans, compared to the alternative species (Fig.  2 , SI Appendix , Tables  S1 to S4 , Figure  S1 ).

figure 2

Empathy and compassion scores attributed to each organisms as a function of divergence time (Mya) between them and humans. The scores correspond to the probability that a given species is chosen from a pair of species that includes it and another randomly selected (n = 52 species). See SI Appendix, Results S1 for details. (Illustrations by A. Miralles).

For each relative reduction of phylogenetic distance of one million year, the probability to be chosen increased by 2.54 (SE = 0.19) in linear units (logit). Results varied according to the raters’ sex (P = 0.02), age (P < 0.001), knowledge on biodiversity (P < 0.001), opinion on hunting and fishing (P = 0.01), and opinion on the value of animal life relatively to humans (P < 0.001). Direction of effects are indicated in Table  S3 , and depicted in Fig.  3A . The empathy score, computed for each species, varied between 0.12 to 0.91, and decreased quadratically with divergence time (linear slope: −1.2 10 −3 , F 1,49  = 258, P < 10 −16 ; quadratic term: 5.3 10 −7 , F 1,49  = 99.8, P < 10 −13 ). From divergence time higher than 611.1 Mya, the empathy score was no longer decreasing with divergence time (estimated inflexion point, with a 95% confidence interval running from 518 to 703 Mya).

figure 3

Effect of confounding variables and response time. ( A ) Effect of rater’s traits on both questions. Odds ratio (for a qualitative variable: ratio of the odds of choosing the most phylogenetically related species in the depicted factor level to the odds of it occurring in the reference factor level; for age, centered variable: ratio of the odds of choosing the most phylogenetically related species in age 1 to the odds of it occurring in age 0) are represented by dots and 95% confidence interval by lines; blue or red dots indicate variables linked with an increased or decreased, respectively, choice probability for the most phylogenetically related species (n raters = 1134 for the empathy test and 1213 for the compassion test). ( B ) Predicted participants’ response time as a function of the absolute divergence time between the two species presented in each pair (area depicts the 95% confidence interval, n responses = 25001 for the empathy test and 26781 for the compassion test).

For the question related to compassion, the probability to be chosen decreased with the phylogenetic distance relatively to humans, compared to the alternative species (Fig.  2 , SI Appendix , Tables  S1 to S4 , Figures  S1 ). For each relative reduction of phylogenetic distance of one million year, the probability to be chosen increased by 0.63 (SE = 0.13) in linear units (logit). Results varied according to the raters’ age (P < 0.001), diet (P < 0.001), knowledge on biodiversity (P = 0.01), opinion on hunting and fishing (P = 0.001), opinion on the value of animal life relatively to humans (P < 0.001), and number of pets (P = 0.016). Direction of effects are indicated in Table  S3 , and depicted in Fig.  3A . The compassion score, computed for each species, varied between 0.08 to 0.79, and decreased quadratically with divergence time (linear slope: −7.8 10 −4 , F 1,49  = 76.6, P < 10 −11 ; quadratic term: 3.9 10 −7 , F 1,49  = 39.0, P < 10 −8 ). From divergence time higher than 564.9 Mya, the compassion score was no more decreasing with divergence time (estimated inflexion point, with a 95% confidence interval running from 413 to 797 Mya).

The empathy and compassion scores were correlated (Pearson’s product-moment correlation = 0.868, t = 12.4, df = 50, P < 10 −15 ). The decrease in score with divergence time was faster for empathic scores than for compassion scores (difference in linear slope: 0.156, SE = 3.24 10 −2 , F 1,98  = 14.1, P = 3 10 −4 ; difference in quadratic terms: F 1,98  = 2.95, P = 0.089) (Fig.  4 , SI Appendix , Table  S4 ).

figure 4

Relationships between empathy and compassion scores. While the oak benefits from an excessive compassion score when compared to its ability to arouse empathy, the tick suffers from a clear compassion deficit (n = 52 species).

The mean response time of raters decreases significantly with the absolute time of divergence between two organisms, regardless of the question asked (empathy or compassion driven) (Fig.  3B ). It decreases by 0.168 s (SE = 0.012) for each increase of divergence time of 100 Myr. When the two species in the pair were equally divergent (absolute time of divergence = 0), mean response time was 7.96 s (SE = 0.15) and 6.54 (SE = 0.15) to empathy and compassion driven questions, respectively. This difference in response time between the two questions, 1.43 s (SE = 0.16), was independent of the absolute divergence time (interaction between absolute divergence time and the type of question: X 2  = 0.003, df = 1, P = 0.96) ( SI Appendix , Table  S4 ).

Empathy, resemblance and relatedness: the anthropomorphic stimuli hypothesis

The ability to understand others’ feelings through empathy is crucial for successful social interactions between humans 19 , 20 . Our predispositions for empathy are partly determined by our genes 21 and, in all likelihood, this prosociality driver has been selected during the evolution of our species, in facilitating coordination and cooperation between individuals 1 , 13 , 22 . The extension of our empathic sensitivity toward other living beings remains nevertheless an issue poorly explored from an evolutionary perspective.

Our results show that our ability to empathize considerably fluctuates from one species to another, and that its magnitude mostly depends on the phylogenetic distance that separates them from us. Although relatedness and resemblance ( sensu overall similarity) refer to different concepts, they empirically tend to be correlated. In an anthropocentric frame of reference, it can therefore be postulated that relatedness (here expressed as the divergence time) correspond to a rough holistic approximation of the total amount of shared external traits inherited from our common ancestor (synapomorphies), as retrospectively, they are expected to decrease relatively gradually over a long period of divergence.

Based on our results, we here hypothesize that our ability, real or supposed, to connect emotionally with other organisms would mostly depend on the quantity of external features that can intuitively be perceived as homologous to those of humans. The closer a species is to us phylogenetically, the more we would perceive such signals (and treat them as anthropomorphic stimuli) , and the more inclined we would be to adopt a human to human-like empathic attitude toward it. Intuitively, the correlation could have been expected but actually the assumption was not so obvious as it seemed. Indeed, in the phylogenetic thinking, overall similarity (the external features we do perceive) is not phylogenetic relatedness (ex. the coelacanth is perceived more similar to the trout than to us, whereas it is more closely related to us than to the trout). It is interesting to note that, in spite of this difficulty, overall external similarity as it generates an anthropomorphic stimuli, is still globally correlated to phylogenetic relatedness.

Consistently with the anthropomorphic stimuli hypothesis, the overall linear correlation between empathic perceptions and phylogenetic divergence time suggests differences of degree, and not differences in kinds, in the perceptions we have of the different organisms. Indeed, our data do not show any break in our empathic perceptions that would explain the customary ethical stances opposing the intrinsic values of humans versus other organisms (ex. Abrahamic religions, humanism), tetrapods vs “fishes” (ex. pesco-vegetarianism), animals vs plants (ex. antispecism, veganism) or vertebrates vs non-vertebrates (ex. various system of regulations promoting animal welfare). In such representations, values manage relationships between us and other species in terms of oppositions, while our senses perceive a gradient of shared features between us and other species. Overall, these results suggest that raters recorded what is shared in the realm of perceptions, rather than mobilizing oppositions in the realm of ethical values. Likewise, we noticed that despite the fact that some rater’s traits (such as opinions on the value of an animal’s life comparatively to those of a human) can have an effect on empathy scores, their values remain overall strongly correlated with the time of divergence.

Interestingly, the retrospective inflexion (estimated at 611.1 Mya, 95% CI: 518–703 Mya) and the stagnation of the empathic perceptions curve coincides with the transition from gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) to non-gnathostomes (lampreys and all the others clades whose divergence from us is equal or superior to 615 Mya). Nevertheless, such an estimate is unprecise and should be considered with caution. The stagnation of our perceptions might also correspond to the prebilaterian organisms (in our dataset, all the sampled clades that have diverged from our lineage 824 Mya or earlier). Indeed, bilaterians, to which we belong, are characterized by a bilateral symmetry, with a ventrodorsal and an anteroposterior axis. Most often, they are mobile and have a head (concentration of the mouth, sense organs, and nerve ganglia at the front end). In contrast, clades having diverged from our lineage prior to bilaterians (cnidarians, fungi and plants in the present study) are lacking all these external traits and are most often sessiles. The plesiomorphic anatomical organization of these neither heads nor tails organisms can be destabilizing from a perceptual point of view: It is almost impossible to spontaneously establish structural or behavioral homologies connecting them to us, likely reducing our empathic projection ability to its minimum. Accordingly, several bilaterian organisms having secondarily lost externally visible bilateral symmetry (echinoderms) or undergone spectacular changes of their anatomical organization (tunicates and bivalves) present minimal empathic scores among bilaterians (their empathic scores are actually equivalent to those attributed to non-bilaterian organisms, what may have contributed to the shift of the inflection point of the curve toward a more recent time). Among the macroscopic organisms present in our sampling, such a low level of empathy is interpreted as the most basic anthropomorphic signal, and may correspond with the recognition of an entity as a living being. Overall these results suggest that humans are relatively indifferent to organisms that do not show obvious signs of antero-posterior and dorso-ventral differentiations.

Shift between empathy and compassion

The extension of altruistic intentions (eg. sympathic or compassionate behaviours) to other organisms remains enigmatic from an evolutionary perspective, especially if we consider the latter as potential competitors, predators or as a valuable food resource for our species 23 .

Our data shows that empathy and compassion scores are significantly correlated to each other, and that both decrease with divergence time. These results were relatively expected as empathy is known to promote compassionate responses, although the neuronal networks recruited by each of these mental states have been shown to be distinct 19 .

Nevertheless, the trends obtained in these two analyses differ in several ways (Fig.  4 ):

(i) the correlation with divergence time is less pronounced for compassion scores than for empathy scores, and the decrease in scores with divergence time is slower for compassion than for empathy; (ii) the retrospective inflexion and the stagnation of the compassion scores curve seems to occur more recently than for the empathy scores (564.9 Mya for compassion scores versus 611.1 Mya for empathic scores, SI Appendix , Figs.  S1 and   S2 ); (iii) recorded response times are significantly higher for the compassion test, suggesting here a greater hesitation from the raters, but the differences in response time for each type of question is remarkably steady and independent from the phylogenetic distance between two species (Fig.  3B ); (iv) some features of the evaluators (e.g., diet) have a confounding effect on the probability of choosing the closest phylogenetically related species that is more pronounced for compassion scores than for empathy scores (Fig.  3A , SI Appendix , Tables  S2 and S3 ); and finally, v) for few taxa only, the decisions made by the raters in the compassion questionnaire are strikingly dissociated from the empathic perceptions they felt (Fig.  4 ). Indeed, although empathic scores attributed to tick and oak tree are relatively well corresponding to those obtained for the others protostomians and plants, respectively, their compassion scores are notably disconnected from those attributed to their relatives (strikingly lower for the tick and higher for the oak). The compassion score given to the tick is actually so low (well below the plateau formed by all the other low compassion score species) that it could be tempting to consider this result as a sharp expression of antipathy rather than as a mere lack of compassion. The strong aversion to parasitic species is not surprising given the threat they represent, and might explain the observed dissociation between empathic perceptions and compassionate responses. However, this trivial interpretation is counterbalanced by the fact that another potentially threatening species, the great white shark, reached compassion score relatively high in comparison with both its empathic score and phylogenetic distance from humans. The high compassion score for the oak tree also represents an outlier difficult to interpret. The imposing size of trees, their slow growth and long lifespan, their upright shape vaguely reminiscent of a human silhouette or their symbolic weight (which might itself results from the biological properties previously mentioned) are among the possible factors explaining the strong affective bond with trees, despite the obvious difficulties of being in empathy with a plant. Interestingly, the oak and the white shark have in common to be large sizes organisms, a trait that has been shown to positively influence our taxonomic preferences within vertebrates 8 , 9 .

Overall, these results led us to consider that compassionate responses, although strongly structured by intuitive empathic perceptions, nevertheless tend to be modulated by the personal ethical inclination toward non-human organisms and by the knowledge we have acquired about each species. Therefore, the compassion score as developed in our study is likely not a strict measure of the intensity of our spontaneous compassionate impulse. Whereas the empathic questionnaire is morally and affectively neutral (impression to better understand the emotions of one of the species presented in each pair), the compassion questionnaire was designed to involve emotionally the raters as much as possible. It is dilemmatic and virtually engaging their responsibility, since choosing to save one individual of the pair indirectly implies the sacrifice of the remaining one. At the end of the test, several raters have even spontaneously informed us about the discomfort perceived during certain choices they had to make. For these reasons, it would likely be more accurate to consider the compassion score as a complex expression of spontaneous emotional responses (the death of which of these two individuals would affect me the most?) mitigated by ethical considerations (which one deserves the most to survive?). Nevertheless, despite the probable intervention of reason in this rebalancing, it is remarkable to note that compassion scores remain closely linked to our spontaneous empathic perceptions and our phylogenetic proximity with a given organism.

Sympathy beyond the confines of man

Phylogenetic distance separating us from a given organism is a key parameter to explain our predisposition to connect emotionally with the different life forms. This finding supports the hypothesis of a significant biological component at the origin of our taxonomic preferences, although additional studies involving non-occidental raters (ex. hunter-gatherer or pastoral societies) would be necessary to ensure this trend can be generalized to the whole humankind. The fluctuations of our affective preferences are likely corresponding to the amount of traits shared with humans, gradually acquired over the long term evolution of the lineage leading to us, and that are involved in the intraspecific recognition of our fellow human beings. To some extent, such anthropomorphic stimuli induced by other organisms could therefore mobilize a cognitive circuitry that is usually at work in human relationships. The emotional reactions and prosocial behaviors they may promote would therefore be all the stronger as the species is close to us, as it shares with us more of these traits.

This phenomenon evokes similarities with the interspecific behavioral diversions episodically reported in other vertebrates providing parental care. Incidental cases of interspecific adoption - most often between relatively closely related species - are well documented in mammals and birds 24 , 25 . Some birds, such as the cuckoos ( Cucculus sp.) have even turned these behavioral flaws at their advantage, through a successful brood parasitic way of life, in forcing the adoption of their offspring by parents from another species 26 . However, it may be reductive to consider the derivation of human prosocial traits from the sole perspective of a selective disadvantage. Our interactions with other organisms are highly diversified and little is known about the real impact our emotions toward them may have had on the human evolution. Our empathic skills may have for instance offered to early hominids the advantage to better anticipate the reactions of wild mammals, either to facilitate their hunt or to assess instantaneously and individually their mood and the danger they may represent. Likewise, our compassionate impulses may have pushed our ancestors to rescue injured or hungry animals, or to adopt young orphaned animals. To what extent could such altruistic interactions between humans and animals have preceded and contributed to the emergence and the long-run development of the multiple domestication episodes remains unknown. What do we know, for instance, about the cognitive predispositions and the motivations that may have allowed humans to make the dog – proverbially presented as our best friend – the very first of the domesticated species?

Ethics statement

All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty approved protocols for this study (CNIL number 2-19061). All participants were informed of the subject of the study (perception of biological alterity) and the protocol for processing personal data on the first page of the website, and access to experiments was conditional on an explicit informed consent to participate. Data were collected and analyzed anonymously.

Photographic stimuli

Pictures of a diversified set of 52 macroscopic eukaryote species have been selected (47 animal species - including Homo sapiens , four plants and one fungi). Although any species sampling involved in a comparative study of the diversity of life on a large scale inevitably has an arbitrary component, our sampling has been developed in order:

To optimize the representativeness in terms of phylogenetic diversity, which translates here into the representativeness in terms of temporal divergence from humans, given the hypothesis to be tested: In that respect, most of the clades connecting at different level of the tree of life and that are placed as sister clades of the lineage leading to humans are represented 27 , 28 . Nevertheless, microscopic organisms have been excluded despite the fact they make up a considerable part of the biodiversity, because we considered them to be beyond our common sensory reach. In total, and excluding H. sapiens , our sampling represent 24 clades that diverged from the lineage leading to man at different times, from our sister clade (chimpanzee, 6.7 Mya) to the very distantly related plants clade (1496 Mya) 27 (Fig.  2 ., SI Appendix , Table  S1 ).

To optimize the representativeness of the phenotypic and phylogenetic diversity among each of these clades: Most of them are represented by several species that have been selected to be highly divergent from each other (i.e. intra-clade divergence time values are always ≥45 million years) 27 . Species selected for a given clade can therefore be considered as different taxonomic samples (i.e. replicates) in order to measure the variability of our empathic reactions for a given divergence time value. Eleven poorly diversified clades (most often very closely related to humans) are represented by a single species (ex. Panina, Gorillini, Ponginae) whereas up to eight highly divergent species have been selected in order to take into account polymorphism of hyperdiversified lineages such as protostomians. For this particular clade, we have for instance selected three very divergent mollusks (a snail, a cuttlefish and a scallop), one annelid (an earthworm) and four very different arthropods (a beetle, a shrimp, a spider and a tick). Given that domestic species have been transformed by human selection, they have been excluded from the sampling because it is likely that their evolution have been directionally driven by our empathic or aesthetical preferences. As far as possible, species overrepresented in the media and entertainment (e. g. bottlenose dolphin) have been avoided or replaced by closely related species that are less popular (e.g. beluga whale) ( SI Appendix , Table  S1 ).

To take into account the variability among each species: For each species, four distinct photographs of distinct living individuals have been selected from online open sources in order to represent phenotypic variation of living individuals and minimize the enhancement bias specific to each shot (N total = 208 photos). Only photographs representing adult individuals were selected, as it has been shown that in mammals juvenile traits can positively influence our empathic perceptions 11 , 12 . For humans, two women and two men representing four distinct ethnic phenotypes have been selected.

An online application was generated to present random pairs of photographs of different species. No information on the photographed individuals was given to the participants, who could therefore only base their choice on images. For each pair, the rater was instructed to click on the photograph corresponding to the answer to one of the two specific questions randomly chosen for each rater (Fig.  1 ). The position of the photograph on the screen (left or right) was randomly ascribed for each pair and for each rater. Each rater had 22 distinct pairs of photographs to assess, randomly drawn from the set of 52 species, with the constraint that for each pair, the two species were drawn from distinct clades, and that no species is seen more than once. Three pairs, randomly chosen from among those previously viewed (excluding the last four pairs already seen), were presented again at the end to estimate judgment reliability.

A total of 3509 raters participated, between November and December 2018. For each rater, the following general information was collected: sex, year and month of birth, and nationality. In addition, each rater provided information on his knowledge on biodiversity (poor, average, good, advanced), type of diet (omnivorous, vegetarian (fish allowed), strictly vegetarian, vegan), type of pet owned (yes or no for 5 categories: mammal, fish, reptile, bird, arthropod), opinion on hunting and fishing (practicing or supporting, against, indifferent), and opinion on the value of animal life (none, low, some but lower than human’s, equal to human’s, higher than human’s), see SI Appendix, Methods for further details and the french original version. The following conservative selection on raters was applied. First, to reduce cultural heterogeneity, only raters from an European nationality were considered. Second, unreliable raters (i.e., with more than one incorrect answer during the test of judgment reliability), non-adult raters (lower than 18 years old), or raters with incomplete data were removed. Finally, evaluation of pair of photographs taking less than 200 ms or more than 7 min were discarded. A total of 2347 raters were retained in the final sample (1134 for the empathy test and 1213 for the compassion test), corresponding to 1434 females (mean age: 37.27 + /− 0.34 years old, range: 18.1–78.5) and 916 males (mean age: 38.04 + /− 0.43 years old, range: 18.2–81.2). Each photograph was seen, on average, by 501.3 raters (range: 474–529).

The aim was to examine the influence of the phylogenetic divergence time relatively to the human species on answers to empathy driven or compassion driven questions. Distinct analyses were performed for each question. Logistic regressions were used to analyze raters’ decisions. The binary response variable corresponded to being chosen or not for the focal species (arbitrarily the species presented at the left position) during the presentation of each pair. Species and raters were considered random samples from a larger population of interest and were thus random-effect variables. Therefore, generalized linear mixed models with a binomial error structure were used. For each choice made by a rater, the difference between the phylogenetic divergence time with humans of the focal and the non-focal species was calculated, as provided by timetree.org 27 . The value of this difference was integrated into the model as the main variable of interest ( Test ). To control for potential confounding effects, variables concerning the raters’ characteristics were also included in the model (after pooling some categories poorly represented) as interaction terms with the variable of interest. These confounding variables were the rater’s sex (qualitative: male, female), age (quantitative, centered), knowledge on biodiversity (qualitative: minimum, average, fair, good), type of diet (qualitative: omnivorous, pesco-vegetarian, vegetarian), number of types of pet owned (quantitative, centered), opinion on hunting and fishing (qualitative: supporting, indifferent, against), and opinion on the value of animal life relatively to humans (qualitative: lower, equal, higher). The significance of each independent variable was calculated by removing it from the full model and comparing the resulting variation in deviance using a Chi square test. For each question, a score was computed for each species, computed as the number of time the species was chosen, divided by the number of time it was presented to raters. These computations were done using the lme4 package 29 on R 3.5.1 software (R Core Team 2018). The inflexion point (IP) of each Time-Scores curves was defined as the time when the slope of the fitted line changed. It was estimated by fitting a broken line, corresponding to four parameters: IP, slopes of the line before and after IP, and coordinate at t = 0. These parameters were estimated by minimizing the sum of the squares of the residuals, using a genetic optimization algorithm as implemented in the R package rgenoud, version 5.8-3.0 30 . Confidence interval for IP was calculated by bootstrap, using at least 5000 resamples with replacement.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many volunteers who participated in our preliminary and online tests. We also thank Evelyne Heyer for helpful discussions. This project benefited from the LabEx BCDiv “Biological and Cultural diversities: Origins, Evolution, Interactions,Future”, and from the Montpellier Bioinformatics Biodiversity platform supported by the LabEx CeMEB, an ANR “Investissements d'avenir” program (ANR-10-LABX-04-01). This is contribution ISEM 2019-272.

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These authors contributed equally: Michel Raymond and Guillaume Lecointre.

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Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, (UMR 7205 Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS UPMC EPHE, Sorbonne Universités), CP30, 25 rue Cuvier 75005, Paris, France

Aurélien Miralles & Guillaume Lecointre

ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France

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A.M. developed the concept of the study, wrote the first draft and prepared the figures, M.R. developped the methodology and performed the analyses. All authors (A.M., M.R. and G.L.) contributed to the manuscript and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Aurélien Miralles .

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Miralles, A., Raymond, M. & Lecointre, G. Empathy and compassion toward other species decrease with evolutionary divergence time. Sci Rep 9 , 19555 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56006-9

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essay on kindness towards nature

Essay on “Kindness to Animals” for Kids and Students, English, Paragraph, Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 12, College and Competitive Exams.

Kindness to Animals

Like human beings animals are also the creatures of God. Animals are equal sharers of natural gifts with men. But it is a pity that men treat animals cruelly. They kill animals to eat their meat. They kill certain other animals to conduct medical experiments. They use animals like donkeys, horses and oxen some animals as beast of burden. They put some animals and birds in a cage for the sake of fun. These animals and birds are doomed to lead a solitary life.

People should know that animals are also living beings. They feel like human beings. The same life runs through them all. Life is as dear to as to human beings. They also love to move and live freely. They as human beings do when they are tortured. They too have physical needs which they want to satisfy. Men should be thankful to them for what they do for them.

People should show kindness to animals just as they do to their pets. They take a lot of care of their dogs, cows and cats. They give them bath and feed them at regular intervals. They clean their place of living. They try to give them comfort. Whenever the pets fall ill, they take them to veterinary hospital. People should give the same type of treatment to other animals also. They should stop eating meat. They should not hunt them for fun and enjoyment.

Some people express the view that if animals are not killed, they will attack human beings. But such people are not right in holding this view. All animals are not dangerous. Nor do all animals kill human beings. Life will become impossible without animals. They must be protected at all costs. Special forests should be made to protect animals. Birds should be kept in sanctuaries for security and safety. Hunting and killing of animals should be prohibited.

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essay on kindness towards nature

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I EAT MEAT AND I ALWAYS WILL BUT THAT DOSEN’T MEANS I AM CRUEL TO ANIMALS !!!!!!!! BTW good essay except for the meat part

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English Compositions

Short Essay on the Beauty of Nature [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

In this session, you will learn how actually you can write short essays on The beauty of Nature. There will be three individual sets of essays covering different word limits. 

Feature image of Short Essay on the Beauty of Nature

Short Essay on the Beauty of Nature in 100 Words

Nature is a gift of God towards all living creatures on the earth. There is no one who is not daily helped by the goods of nature. Nature is significant to the development of life. As human beings, we realize how important a single plant is for our survival.

The beauty of nature includes plants, animals, insects, and other aspects like the mountains, hills, plains, rivers, the sky, which are all components of this beautiful nature. Nature is like a well-made garden with lots of flowers and fruit trees. It is our protective shield from all-natural calamities. It gives us the support to survive healthily on the earth. Nature is the source of our personal beauty and strength as well.

Short Essay on the Beauty of Nature in 200 Words

God while creating the earth has given his best. And among several things, nature is his most beautiful creation. Nature is a part of heaven. The beauty of a single tree is worth much more than any commodity. We are always told to preserve nature because nature is the elixir of our life.

Every life on the earth is supported by the nature around us. This nature includes trees, animals, insects, humans, and even the geography we inhabit. The mountains, hills, plains, plateaus, rivers, springs, waterfall, deserts- all are the components of this wide nature. We cannot overpower nature. It has its own strength to control the atmosphere.

Nature is almost like a caring mother who feeds her children. It gives birth to lives and also maintains them peacefully. Nature protects us like an umbrella. It does not allow any storm or flood or drought to affect us. Nature’s beauty lies in the fact that she changes according to whether to support the earth.

According to every change she has her collection of food to feed all living creatures. It is our duty hence to maintain her beauty. The beauty of nature is a component of nature. We must not chop trees or hurt any animal, as it results in harming ourselves. Nature is a treasure and our biggest responsibility is to care for it.

Short Essay on the Beauty of Nature in 400 Words

Nature has been the source of our delight. It is the reason for our life and sustenance. The earth is beautiful because of nature. It is a creation of the god himself. Hence, it is all beauty. In the Holy Bible, we see the beautiful Garden of Eden as an example of natural bliss.

It is a garden, filled with fruits, flowers, trees, animals, and human beings. In fact, Eden shows us what the ideal nature looks like. It is about humans staying together in harmony with animals and plants. No one is harming the other. Nature provides us with this peace and happiness. This is the actual beauty of nature.

Wordsworth in his poem ‘The Daffodils’ gives importance to nature. He tells how nature soothes our pains and anxiety. When we are tired of our mundane life, we try to find help in nature. We take long walks down an empty road or even enjoy the cool breeze standing at the terrace. The first dewdrop of the morning is a wonderful beauty. Nature shows how even simple things can be wonderful. We do not need to travel to many countries to enjoy happiness. Nature gives us that richness and pleasure quite easily. 

Nature is the biggest blessing in our lives. It is precious to us. We cannot survive if nature is taken away from us. Nature is the source of our food. Our daily diet includes several components from nature, be it vegetables, fruits, or milk. Destroying nature is letting ourselves die, all hungry. Nature is also our protection. It saves us like a shield.

Whenever we face any natural calamity, it immediately rescues us. Every storm, flood, and drought is reduced by nature. Nature feels more like a mother to us. A mother cares for her child and knows him the best. So does nature. Natural beauty lives in the geography we live in. The first sun rays, the chirping of the birds, the blooming seasons, the wind and rainfall, everything delights us equally. We cannot think of living without this peace. Nature thus is the house of serenity and calmness.

As rational human beings, it is our foremost duty to take care of natural beings. Every citizen must pledge to plant a tree and provide shelter to animals. Ther should complete restriction to any hunting of animals. Even in zoos, animals must be well kept. Nature is the balance of the ecosystem. If nature is harmed, then the stability of the ecosystem will be completely destroyed. So natural beauty depends on the care we give to it. If we love it like our own mother, then it will remain forever beautiful.

I have written these sample essays in a very simple language for a better understanding of all kinds of students. If you still have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know in the comment section below. To read more such essays on various important topics, keep browsing our website.

Thank you. 

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Essay On Kindness – 10 Lines, Short And Long Essay For Children

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Key Points To Note: Essay On Kindness For Lower Primary Classes

10 lines on kindness for kids, a paragraph on kindness, short essay on ‘importance of kindness’ in english for children, long essay on kindness for kids, what will your child learn from the kindness essay.

Children should possess the virtue of kindness from an early age. Therefore, an essay on kindness in English for classes 1, 2 & 3 is prominent in their coursework. Parents and teachers strive to teach young kids the value of being kind in numerous ways. Kind kids are polite, considerate, compassionate, generous, and loved by all. They make people around them happy through their actions, thoughts, and words. Kind people are admired and appreciated by everyone around them. However, not all kids have this virtue in-built in them. For most, it needs to be taught and shown for understanding. So, an essay on kindness is the best way to teach kids the importance of this great asset of life.

Lower primary kids may wonder how to write an essay on kindness. Here are some key points they can remember when writing an essay on kindness to help them:

  • Explain what kindness is.
  • Write why it is important to be kind.
  • Write a few points on how to be kind.
  • Briefly conclude with why everyone should be kind.

Essay writing on subjects like kindness enhances the understanding of the topic and teaches sentence structure formation to kids. Here are a few lines on kindness for kids. This will be helpful for class 1 and 2 kids to write an essay on kindness:

  • Kindness is an admirable virtue.
  • To be kind, we must be good to people around us.
  • Very few people have this quality, but it can be attained with the right guidance.
  • Kind people are caring, polite, and generous.
  • They always help other people with their problems.
  • Kind people offer support and are always there for each other.
  • Not only to just other people, but we should also be kind to animals.
  • Kind people never hurt anyone.
  • To be kind, one needs to be caring and good at heart.
  • Kindness motivates people and makes them happy.

The virtue of kindness can be best taught through an essay to young kids. Writing short paragraphs will also help them in short sentence construction. Here is a short paragraph on kindness for their reference:

Kind people are always thought of as good people. Being kind means a person is caring, polite, and good to people around them. Many people in this world lack this virtue and want to hurt each other. Kindness should be the first base of character building in any person. Kind people don’t hurt others. They understand and value each other’s feelings and emotions. Providing support and helping people in their troubles are some highlights of kind people. One needs to be caring, supportive, compassionate, and helpful to be kind. Kindness makes people happy and the world a better place. Everyone admires compassionate and kind people.

Essay On Kindness - 10 Lines, Short and Long Essay For Children

Writing a kindness essay for classes 1, 2 and 3 students is a great way to teach them about being kind. Here is a short essay on the importance of kindness for children:

Kindness, in simple words, means to be good and compassionate to people around us. We can be kind by speaking politely, being supportive, helping people, and motivating them. Kind words or actions are enough to make someone happy. When someone goes through a problem, just words of kindness can make them hopeful. No big gesture is required. Kind deeds not only help others but also make us happy. When we help others, care for them or be good to them, we too feel happy. We also feel nice when others talk to us politely or care for us. To be human is to be kind. However, kind people are rare. However, the world is full of bad people and bad things. To make the world a better place, we all need to care about other people, animals, and nature.

Students of class 3 can be asked to write a long essay on various topics as it helps them broaden their thought process and long sentence construction ability. Here is a long essay on kindness for class 3 students, and this will explain to them the meaning and the importance of being kind.

We are taught from childhood to be good to others. Our parents and teachers all talk about how good things happen to good people. They tell us everyone loves a good person, and they also emphasise that the most important quality of a good person is kindness. Kindness is the basic characteristic of being human. Let us understand in detail what kindness is and its importance in our lives.

What Is Kindness?

Kindness can be simply described as being caring, compassionate, polite, and thoughtful. Being kind means having love, concern, tenderness, and respect for others. Kind people support other when they have a problem and don’t hurt anyone, whether a person, animal, or plant. Kindness means being a good person who respects and cares for everyone.

Importance Of Kindness

Kindness is an important virtue. To be a good human, we have to be a kind person first. One cannot be a good person without being kind. Kindness is important to make this world and our society better. Even for our growth, kindness is important. We help each other because we care for each other. It is our kindness that makes us compassionate towards our family, friends, and strangers too. Being kind is important to nurture our environment too. We can care for nature and animals only when we are kind. In this fast-paced world, most people only think about their well-being. That makes them selfish or bad towards others. Therefore, kindness is crucial to ensure the world retains its humanity. When we do a kind deed for someone, say some encouraging words or care for them, they feel good. Then when they see someone in trouble, they do the same for them. Thus, a chain of good deeds is formed. This brings a positive change to people and the world. So, kindness is important to make the world a better place for us and our coming generations.

How Can You Be Kind To Others?

We all are kind to our families as we love them. But for others, we find it difficult to be kind. To be kind to others, we don’t have to do much. We just need to be genuinely good to them. Kindness doesn’t require us to spend money on others. We just need to be caring, polite, and compassionate. Saying a few encouraging words, caring for them in trouble, helping them, and not hurting others are essential traits of a kind person.

Kindness is a fundamental quality that maintains the balance in the world and makes it a beautiful place to live.

Children learn things better when they are involved in them. So, to teach kindness and its importance to kids, reading and writing essays is a great method. When they read or write essays on kindness, they understand what kindness is and what is needed to be kind. Kids learn the value of being empathetic and polite to be good humans. This exercise will also help kids’ behavioural development and make them understand the importance of having good conduct in society. Kindness is not just being good to our near ones but also towards plants and animals. Kids learn to be polite, caring, and respectful towards everyone through the kindness essay.

Some FAQs on kindness:

What’s The Difference Between Kind And Nice?

Kids often get confused between being kind and nice. Being kind means being caring, polite, respectful, and compassionate. Whereas being nice means one is polite in their speaking or is pleasing. They may or may not be caring and compassionate.

Kids should be taught to be kind from their early years. Essays on kindness are a great way to teach them the significance of being kind.

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Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Essay on Kindness | Importance | Short Speech

December 14, 2017 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Table of Contents

People in all Hues

The world around us consists of all kinds of people. People who are soft hearted, mild, gentle natured, harsh, rude, violent, calm, outgoing, introverts etc. Human character is moulded by various factors. First of all, it depends on the upbringing of kids at home.

Next, the environment at home plays a major factor. The friends circle that we belong to, the kind of company we have with our close circles, our parents, relatives, their behaviors, all cast a very important influence in shaping a person’s behavior and characteristics.

No person is hundred percent good or bad. A so called good person also has negative attributes inside him and a person who is branded as being bad also shows good qualities inside him. It is the scenarios or occurrences of events that change a person and make him good or bad.

Generally, we shouldn’t judge a person in a bad situation since a person does not respond properly when he is angry or high tempered. Bad situations don’t make a person good or bad. It shows the person’s ability to deal with the situation.

A person with a lot of positive attributes shows innate qualities of kindness and it shows in his ways and behavior as well. A person is said to be kind if he is sympathizing, understanding and courteous in his ways and mannerisms.

A school teacher who does not have the skills to handle a class of primary school children can often be spotted yelling at the students and annoying himself and the whole ambience around. He would be possessed with poor management skills making him unable to sustain the class in a smooth manner.

The person has no kindness towards his class children, the inability to handle him seems primary and he is irresponsible in his duties.

Let us contrast this with another teacher, who is well trained and has the abilities and experience to handle any given class. He could be seen managing the class so well those students listen to him carefully and they grow fond of him.

Importance of Kindness

Kindness dwells in the heart and is reflected on one’s face. When we see a cute little pup in our neighborhood searching for some food, we sympathize with it. We sympathize with its inability to find food for itself. We feel bad for the poor creature.

After seeing the pup in this state, if we offer some help, we go to exhibit kindness towards it. If we stop at just feeling bad for the poor creature, then we offer our share of sympathies, kindness does not exist there.

Beauty of Kindness

Kindness comes out of love, pure and genuine concerns. When we see a long waiting queue on the road where plenty of vehicles have lined up in the midst of slow moving traffic, the first thing that comes to our mind is road rage and unnecessarily we start yelling at fellow riders for no reason at all.

If we have kindness in our hearts and bear the fact that the fellow riders around us are also fellow sufferers in a similar way as us, then our way of looking at the scenario changes.

With kindness, comes a deep understanding in our minds that lets us change the thinking we possess. Instead of yelling at fellow commuters, if we learn to handle the situation, wait till our turn comes and allows us to start moving, then we could be much more at peace with ourselves.

A multi tasking modern day mother can be seen juggling with multiple tasks at the same time. She can be seen managing the house chores, preparing breakfast for her family, packing lunch boxes, waking the kids up and preparing them for their day at school, etc.

Very frequently, she could be seen yelling around at her kids with frustration. All this happens when she tries to do many things at the same time and feels the need of a helping hand to support her. The kids, for no wrong reason of theirs bear the brunt and listen to their mother’s harsh words and rebukes.

If the same mother showed a little kindness towards her children, she could understand enough to realize the children at young age hardly understand their responsibilities. Hence, kindness comes into picture, when situations are handled with ease, with good thinking and a positive attitude.

Kindness in Different Forms

We should have compassion and kindness towards other fellow human beings, towards Mother Nature, towards pets, towards other creatures in our environment. Let us go through how we can show kindness towards Mother Nature.

The world is increasingly becoming selfish because it wants to convert forest lands that are filled with greenery into commercial buildings which are profitable in lucrative in terms of the money they earn from there. But the damage it causes to the land beneath and the destruction of the whole environment is a big intangible thing.

The destruction caused is beyond measurable terms. Let us show some kindness to Mother Nature which has offered us so much to lead a good life. It has given us sunshine, fruits and vegetables to eat, a place to live, air to breathe, water to survive, etc.

Without these essentials, we cannot even think of leading a good life. So let’s be regardful of these vital essentials that we have received from mother earth and be kind in our ways when wit our surroundings. Let’s not cut down trees to make way for big complexes, let’s allow them to survive in their own way to preserve greenery around.

We can see so many street dogs lying on the streets, totally abandoned. It’s none of their fault that they are in the place where they are often seen. We as humans can show some kindness to them and make arrangements for their rehabilitation.

They cannot speak of their needs and wants. We as humans can be a little compassionate and find them a shelter house where they will be taken care of and given proper food and water at regular time intervals. We can see many such domestic animals lying wounded on streets waiting for somebody to care for them.

We can see dogs having wounded legs just because somebody had fun in pelting stones at them. We cannot imagine the pain they undergo when somebody hits them a stone.

They cannot express their pain in words. It’s only though a painful sight that humans can understand that something is wrong with them. We as humans can show some compassion and care towards such creatures and at least arrange for their treatment and for a proper shelter.

Kind words, filled with care and compassion can turn even a stone hearted man into a beautiful human being. Pain, sorrows, bad moments are there in everybody’s lives. But a few kind words of care and concern can go a long way in creating a big difference in one’s life and bringing a broad smile on their faces.

The next important thing to talk about in kindness is the most important thing, which many fail to bring about. That is the care and kind attention we give to elders and our parents. Parents bring up their children with lots of love, affection and care. They see to it that their children are the best in the world.

As they start ageing, their kids become powerful and wear their parent’s shoes. When it is their turn to take care of their own parents or grandparents, the current generation could be seen stepping back from their responsibilities. They can often be seen ignoring their parents or elders in the family.

The family that took care of them when they were little toddler and served them, every happiness they wished for. The world isn’t too kind today. But we can all pledge and change the situation for the better. We should have lots of love, compassion and respect for the elders.

They should be treated with kind words. They have a world full of experiences behind them and whenever they advise us, they share this big bounty of experienced knowledge with us.

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Essay on Kindness

In a world bustling with diverse activities, where ambition often overshadows empathy, kindness emerges as a beacon of hope and warmth. This essay explores the profound essence of kindness, its definition, inherent meaning, and the impactful ways it can be incorporated into our daily lives, especially for students aspiring to make a difference.

Kindness , at its core, is a selfless act marked by acts of generosity, consideration, and care towards others without expecting anything in return. It transcends mere politeness and delves into the realm of empathy and compassion. In the simplest form, kindness can be a smile, a helping hand, or a comforting word – small gestures that hold the power to transform moments and lives.

The Multifaceted Nature of Kindness

Kindness is not a singular, isolated behavior but a complex interplay of various attributes. It involves:

  • Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
  • Compassion: A deep awareness of others’ suffering coupled with a desire to alleviate it.
  • Generosity: The willingness to give time, energy, or resources.
  • Gratitude: Appreciating and recognizing the good in others and in the world.

The Impact of Kindness

Kindness, though often quiet and unassuming, has a ripple effect that extends far beyond the initial interaction. Studies have shown that acts of kindness:

  • Improve Well-being: Both the giver and receiver of kindness experience heightened feelings of happiness and contentment.
  • Foster Connections: Kindness bridges gaps between people, fostering a sense of community and belonging.
  • Inspire More Kindness: Witnessing or experiencing kindness often prompts individuals to act kindly themselves, creating a cycle of goodwill.

Benefits of Kindness

  • Improved Well-being: Acts of kindness, whether giving or receiving, can trigger the release of endorphins, often referred to as “feel-good” hormones, leading to an improved sense of well-being and happiness.
  • Better Relationships: Kindness is a key factor in building and maintaining healthy relationships. Acts of kindness, such as listening empathetically or providing support, can strengthen connections with others.
  • Improved Mental Health: Engaging in acts of kindness has been linked to improved mental health outcomes, including reduced symptoms of depression and increased life satisfaction.
  • Physical Health Benefits: Research suggests that kindness can have positive effects on physical health, such as improved heart health and a boosted immune system.
  • Enhanced Self-esteem: Acts of kindness can boost one’s self-esteem and self-worth, as they provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
  • Positive Social Impact: Acts of kindness can create a ripple effect, inspiring others to engage in kind actions as well. This can contribute to a more compassionate and harmonious society.
  • Increased Happiness: Engaging in acts of kindness has been associated with greater overall life satisfaction and happiness, as it brings joy to both the giver and receiver.
  • Strengthened Bonds: Kindness strengthens bonds between individuals and can lead to deeper and more meaningful relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.
  • Personal Growth: Practicing kindness can lead to personal growth and a greater sense of purpose, as it encourages individuals to be more mindful, compassionate, and empathetic.
  • Cultural and Global Harmony: Kindness is a fundamental value in promoting cultural and global harmony, fostering peace, cooperation, and understanding among diverse groups.
  • Positive Influence: Kindness can serve as a positive influence, inspiring others to follow suit and engage in acts of kindness, creating a more compassionate and caring world.
  • Personal Fulfillment: Ultimately, practicing kindness can lead to a sense of personal fulfillment and a greater purpose in life, as it contributes to the betterment of oneself and others.

Kindness in Everyday Life

Incorporating kindness into daily life can be simple yet profound. Here are some ways students can practice kindness:

  • Volunteering: Offering time to help others, be it in a community center, a local charity, or a school event.
  • Listening Actively: Sometimes, offering an ear to someone who needs to talk is one of the kindest things one can do.
  • Sharing Knowledge: Helping a peer understand a tough concept or sharing study resources.
  • Small Acts of Thoughtfulness: Complimenting someone, thanking a teacher, or helping a younger student.

Overcoming Barriers to Kindness

While the concept of kindness is universally admired, practicing it consistently can be challenging. Barriers include:

  • Busy Schedules: The fast pace of life can make us overlook opportunities to be kind.
  • Fear of Rejection: Sometimes, people hesitate to offer help, fearing their efforts won’t be appreciated.
  • Misunderstanding Kindness: Kindness is not about grand gestures; even the smallest act can make a significant impact.

Kindness in Literature and History

Throughout literature and history, kindness has been a recurring theme. From the parables of ancient scriptures advocating for compassion to modern tales celebrating unsung heroes, kindness is a thread that weaves through the tapestry of human experience.

Kindness in the Digital Age

In the era of social media and digital communication, kindness has taken on new forms. It’s vital for students to practice kindness online by:

  • Being Respectful in Interactions: Avoiding negative comments and spreading positivity.
  • Supporting Causes: Using digital platforms to support charitable causes and spread awareness.

In conclusion, Kindness, in its essence, is about recognizing our shared humanity and extending warmth to others in our journey. For students participating in essay writing competitions, this essay serves not just as an exploration of the concept but also as an invitation to embody kindness in their lives. In a world often clouded by competition and individualism, kindness stands out as a universal language of empathy and compassion, capable of transforming both the giver and receiver, and ultimately, the world.

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Essay on kindness

Research says that being kind to someone or vice versa can positively rewire your brain. Kindness is when one is generous to another person. Well, in today’s world, it is very difficult. We can hardly find anyone. Do you wish to bring a change in your lifestyle ? Well, you have come to the right place. Today, we will be talking about kindness in depth. Here, in this article, we have compiled several sample essays on kindness which describe this topic in depth. 

This Blog Includes:

Importance of kindness, essay on kindness in 100 words, essay on kindness in 150 words, essay on kindness in 200 words.

Kindness is an effortless yet powerful gesture which put a very positive impact on someone’s life. In the academic community, this gesture is seen as an attitude that can create a huge impact on one’s achievement. 

Speaking in a bit of a medical language, being kind to someone boosts serotonin and dopamine. These brain chemicals, known as neurotransmitters, are what light up your reward and pleasure centres and give you a sense of fulfilment.

This doesn’t end here. Kindness has been shown to have cardioprotective effects. It can lower blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol, which in turn affects stress levels. 

Speaking of which, here, we have compiled an essay on kindness which will provide you with more information on this topic. Let’s dive in. 

Also Read: Essay on the Importance of the English Language for Students

Being kind is a basic virtue which is very important for humankind to create a world that is more peaceful and compassionate. It is one of the most straightforward acts which can be shown by anyone to others without expecting anything in return. When it comes to showing kindness, there are many ways by which one can show it. These include opening doors for others giving your time to support a good cause or simply being with them during their hard times. 

Always remember that even showing a tiny act of kindness can create a huge impact in someone’s life or simply make their day better. 

Also Read: Essay on Save Environment: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

Kindness is a feeling of being generous, friendly and considerate. In a world full of hatred and cruelty, kindness is what one can spread. You never know whom you might someone from a having bad day. One can simply start spreading kindness in the community they are living in. 

One of the best examples to describe the word kindness would be Mother Teresa . She devoted her entire life to caring for the destitute and dying in the slums of Calcutta (Kolkata). She is considered to be one of the greatest humanitarians the world has ever produced.

Speaking of kindness, doing little things such as opening a door for someone. Helping an elderly person cross the street, or holding things of someone are some basic things which can be done.

To conclude, kindness is contagious. It can spread like wildfire. Therefore, in a world where there is so much hatred, and cruelty, where people are fighting. One can be kind which will provoke others to do the same. 

Also Read: Essay on Unity in Diversity in 100 to 200 Words

Kindness is one of the most important qualities which people should have. This is very important to create a more compassionate and harmonious world. The simple act of being considerate towards others and not expecting anything in return is kindness. The word ‘kindness’ can be expressed in many different ways. From helping someone during tough times to helping an old lady cross the street is what best describes this word. 

Other than this, kindness is also beneficial for our well-being. Studies show that people who are kind to people around them tend to be more happy than others. This is because of the endorphins which are released. They contribute towards mood-boosting and pain-relieving effects. Not only this, kindness has also proved to have reduced stress levels and improved cardiovascular health.

To conclude, I would like to leave you all with a thought. In today’s times, we hardly come across kind people. Consider ourselves, we may feel for others around us going through the bad phase but how often do we reach out and assist them? It is our responsibility to nurture kindness in ourselves before we can ask others to do the same for us.

Related Articles 

We hope after reading some of these essays on kindness, your perspective on kindness would have changed. Always remember, everyone is fighting their own battles, so the best you can do is be a little kind and bring a smile to their face. Signing off!

There are certain advantages to our happiness and general well-being for those of us who are kind and caring. Perhaps we will live longer. Additionally, kindness lowers stress and enhances mental health.

These expressions describe persons who are kind, considerate, and considerate of others’ feelings.

Kindness belongs to the human virtue category and is one of the 24 universal character strengths.

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay-writing page and follow Leverage Edu ! 

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Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

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Essay on Kindness

Students are often asked to write an essay on Kindness in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Kindness

Understanding kindness.

Kindness means being friendly, generous, and considerate. It involves actions and words that show care towards others.

Why is Kindness Important?

Kindness helps to build a sense of community and warmth. It makes people feel valued and loved.

Examples of Kindness

Kindness can be as simple as sharing your lunch with someone who forgot theirs or helping a friend with homework.

Impact of Kindness

Kindness can change a person’s day or even their life. It promotes happiness and positivity.

Kindness is a powerful tool that can make the world a better place. Let’s practice it every day.

Also check:

  • 10 Lines on Kindness
  • Paragraph on Kindness
  • Speech on Kindness

250 Words Essay on Kindness

Introduction.

Kindness, a simple yet profound virtue, is the act of expressing genuine concern for the well-being of others. It is a universal language that transcends geographical borders, cultures, religions, and social strata.

The Essence of Kindness

Kindness is not merely an act, but a lifestyle – a commitment to creating a positive impact on others’ lives. It is often misconstrued as a sign of weakness when, in fact, it requires immense strength and selflessness. The act of kindness is a testament to the human capacity for empathy, compassion, and benevolence.

The Power of Kindness

Kindness holds the power to transform lives. It can alleviate suffering, instill hope, and foster unity. It has the potential to bridge the chasm between individuals, communities, and nations, fostering a sense of shared humanity. Acts of kindness, no matter how small, can start a chain reaction, influencing others to act kindly in turn.

Kindness in Practice

Practicing kindness does not necessarily entail grand gestures. It can be as simple as lending a listening ear, offering a word of encouragement, or helping someone in need. It is about recognizing the intrinsic worth of every individual and treating them with dignity and respect.

In conclusion, kindness is a powerful tool that can engender a more compassionate and harmonious society. It is a virtue that should be cultivated and practiced consistently, not only for the benefit of others but also for our personal growth and fulfillment. As the adage goes, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

500 Words Essay on Kindness

Kindness, an integral human virtue, is often overlooked in our fast-paced, self-centered world. It is a quality that signifies benevolence, consideration, and empathy towards others. It is not just an ethical principle or a moral duty, but a fundamental aspect of human interaction that bridges gaps and fosters unity.

Kindness, in essence, is an act of understanding and accepting others without judgment. It’s about recognizing the inherent worth of every individual, irrespective of their status, background, or beliefs. It is an extension of love, compassion, and respect towards others. Kindness is not merely about grand gestures; it is often reflected in the simplest of acts such as a comforting word, a helping hand, or a genuine smile.

Kindness and Society

In a society, kindness plays a pivotal role in creating an environment of mutual respect and understanding. It is the thread that weaves individuals into a cohesive social fabric. When kindness becomes a core societal value, it fosters a sense of belonging among its members, promotes positive interactions, and reduces conflicts. Acts of kindness, when multiplied, can transform a community, making it more inclusive, empathetic, and harmonious.

Kindness and Personal Growth

On a personal level, kindness contributes significantly to our mental and emotional wellbeing. It boosts our mood, reduces stress, and enhances our sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Kindness also fosters personal growth. It encourages us to step out of our comfort zones, to understand perspectives different from ours, and to develop empathy. It teaches us to be patient, to be tolerant, and to appreciate the diversity of human experience.

The Ripple Effect of Kindness

Kindness begets kindness. It has a ripple effect that extends far beyond the initial act. A single act of kindness can inspire others to do the same, creating a cycle of positive actions. This ripple effect can reach far and wide, touching countless lives and making a significant impact. The beauty of kindness is that it costs nothing but has immense value for both the giver and the receiver.

In conclusion, kindness is a powerful tool that can bring about profound change in our society and in ourselves. It is a universal language that transcends boundaries and connects hearts. By embracing kindness, we not only enrich our own lives but also contribute to a more compassionate and harmonious world. After all, as Mark Twain rightly said, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Let us strive to make kindness a way of life, not just an occasional act.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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The Handmaids Tale

The Nature and Significance of the Kindness

Kindness, when given out, is habitually expected to be returned. More often than not it is seen that kindness, in fact, is given so that something else of value may be returned. Kindness is often exchanged for similar invaluable things like favouritism and prosperity, making the giver of such manners manipulative. When one contains the hidden motive to receive something in return for expected kindness, one has the ability to control not only the relationships around them, but their own singular destiny as well. For example, the character Offred of The Handmaid’s Tale treats her masters Serena Joy and The Commander, as well as her only friend Ofglen, with kindness merely to achieve a sure confirmation of her own well-being. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred uses kindness to mask her inner thoughts and feelings in order to ensure her survival and her believed destiny as a handmaid.

Though Offred’s gentleness and quite nature are expected in her ranking as a Handmaid, Offred’s treatment towards Serena Joy differs from her attitude. Having known Serena Joy previously to be an enthusiastic pioneer of the new Gilead regime, Offred works dutifully to live up to her mater’s expectations. Understanding that ” it was best not to speak unless [asked] a direct question”, Offred secures her status in the household in her silence and servitude, though inside she holds the belief that as long as she presents herself well, she will eventually be rewarded. This inner belief results in Offred’s small acts of rebellion; although she speaks and acts as she should, Offred still identifies herself as an independent and free thinking woman, her only rebellion. This discrepancy between her inner non-conformity and her outward manners toward Serena Joy is what Offred believes will ultimately bring her some amount of freedom. By operating under the guise of servitude, Offred can eventually gain small amounts of independence, at the will of Serena Joy. Offred does achieve this soon enough in the form of a cigarette and match given to her by Serena Joy, demonstrating that in order to truly manipulate someone, one must be truly kind and hide their inner motives.

Offred’s kindness to her only friend Ofglen originally is performed to ensure her social status among the other Handmaids, but quickly Offred learns that in order to gain information from her partner, she must act accordingly. Ofglen reveals herself as a veritable source of rebellion, and if Offred is to share this rebellion, she needs to show her willingness. Offred does this by kindly greeting Ofglen with the forbidden greeting of “Hello” and by mocking the Gilead enthusiasts with “I thought you were a true believer.” By acting in this “old fashioned” way and speaking their minds, both Offred and Ofglen are ensuring their friendship and stating their superficial commitment to each other. Though Offred only complies to gain information of the underground resistance, it is this behaviour that associates Offred with no one. She displays kindness to Ofglen only to manipulate her, conveying to the reader that though Offred does not identify with the traditional Gilead regime, she doesn’t identify with the resistance movement either. Here it is displayed that though Offred possesses the traits of rebellion and kindness, she only does so to secure the survival of only herself.

Towards her ultimate master, The Commander, Offred is kind and almost invisible, in this way securing her destiny as a Handmaid. Offred recalls the story of a Nazi guard who “was not a monster”, at least not to his wife. By comparing the wife’s situation to her own, Offred realizes that although the Commander is the agent of her oppression, she can use his affection to her advantage. By displaying kindness towards the Commander and complying to his wishes to see her after acceptable hours, Offred secures her relationship with him. Offred, succeeding in gaining the Commander’s kindness, now uses it to gain whatever she wishes. Magazines and moisturizer among her rewards, Offred’s kindness has secured her destiny, at least for the time being. For while she is living in the house of the Commander and Serena Joy, even if she is failing to produce offspring Offred can be sure that her survival is guaranteed because of the relationship she has with the Commander. Her kindness is her only weapon, and here it is seen that Offred uses it to her every advantage in winning the affection of the Commander.

Kindness is often expected, and no saying is more true than in the life of the Handmaid Offred. Offred uses her kindness in exchange for possessions such as cigarettes and magazines, but also in exchange for intangible things such as information, affection, and control. For it is seen that when one can receive power when they display kindness, said person can achieve ultimate subsistence. As seen in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred ensures her survival and control of her own destiny through her behaviour in her relationships, thereby allowing her the ability to achieve ultimate freedom, if she so chooses.

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Kindness Essay

Kindness essay is a reflection on the idea of kindness, which is an act of selflessness. Because kindness doesn’t come with the expectation of receiving anything in return, it is a great way to show your appreciation for what you have received in life.

Kindness is always an excellent choice to make in any situation. When someone feels bad or down, the kindness shown can make a person feel more supported and loved. It is an action that anyone can do.

essay on kindness towards nature

Importance of Kindness Essay

Kindness is a simple yet powerful gesture. It can positively impact someone’s life, and the ripple effect is just as powerful. In the academic community, kindness is thought to be an attitude that influences achievement among people.

Kindness is a form of love and compassion and one that needs to spread throughout the world. It allows people to see the best in others, encouraging them to be their best selves. Allowing kindness to exist for those around us is beneficial for them and ourselves.

It is our responsibility as human beings to be kind to other people. We can be considerate and compassionate towards other people to live in peace and love. Kindness is a virtue, and it is one of the essential things in life. It shows other people that you care about them and takes away some of the pain and suffering that they may be feeling. It can also help heal others, and everyone should always try to think about how their actions will affect others before taking them.

Kindness is vital in every single person’s life. It makes the world a better place and can make someone feel loved. With the help of kindness, you can start your good deeds to make the world a better place.

You can find more essays similar to the kindness essay on BYJU’S website. Also, explore a wide range of exciting kids’ learning resources on the website.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is kindness.

Kindness is a simple gesture that can positively impact someone’s life. It also helps people be compassionate and considerate towards others.

Why is kindness important?

Kindness is important because it is our responsibility to be kind to others. This helps people to live in peace and love. As a virtue, kindness is one of the essential things in life. It helps us be empathetic towards people and extend our hands to support them.

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    Essay on "Kindness to Animals" for Kids and Students, English, Paragraph, Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 12, College and Competitive Exams. Absolute-Study April 28, 2020 English Essays, Paragraph Writing, Short Speech 7 Comments. Kindness to Animals. Like human beings animals are also the creatures of God. Animals are equal sharers of natural ...

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    Hence, kindness comes into picture, when situations are handled with ease, with good thinking and a positive attitude. Kindness in Different Forms. We should have compassion and kindness towards other fellow human beings, towards Mother Nature, towards pets, towards other creatures in our environment.

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    The Multifaceted Nature of Kindness Kindness is not a singular, isolated behavior but a complex interplay of various attributes. It involves: Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others. Compassion: A deep awareness of others' suffering coupled with a desire to alleviate it.

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    The quest of otherworldly rapture, or in the search of peace, the term kindness is often thrust into the mainstream throughout the years. Since childhood, adolescents are told by their elders to act kind and behave kind, typically meaning to give politeness in order to receive it.

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    The Nature and Significance of the Kindness November 16, 2020 by Essay Writer Kindness, when given out, is habitually expected to be returned. More often than not it is seen that kindness, in fact, is given so that something else of value may be returned.

  23. Kindness Essay

    Kindness Essay. Kindness essay is a reflection on the idea of kindness, which is an act of selflessness. Because kindness doesn't come with the expectation of receiving anything in return, it is a great way to show your appreciation for what you have received in life. Kindness is always an excellent choice to make in any situation.