Kindness is a personality trait that is characterized by goodwill for others. A kind person likes to help others. They’re generous (cf generosity) and empathetic (see empathy).

Kindness is a great quality because it encourages mutual aid and goodwillness. It can have a huge impact on the life of someone who needs financial, emotional, and physical help.

Kindness can also be a weapon against malevolence. Indeed, some people say that when you’re facing an individual who wants to hurt you, an act of kindness can be a way to unsettle them because they were expecting you to try to harm them.

People often consider kindness as a quality that is nothing but positive. However, this value can also be negative sometimes.

First of all, too much kindness can be noxious : when people realize that someone is too kind, they can take advantage of them. People who are too kind struggle to say “no”, even if it harms them, because they always want to please others. For some people, it’s a sign of weakness because it signifies an incapacity of putting oneself first and to say something when someone takes advantage of you.

You can be kind without saying yes to everything. You have to set boundaries and make people understand that you can’t always be there for them.

Furthermore, some people are suspicious of other people’s kindness because they doubt their sincerity (cf sincerity). It is true that some people are kind only because they expect something in return, or they just want to have a good reputation.

An act of kindness has to be sincere, or it can't be considered real kindness.