A step by step tool for top achievers

WHAT IS GOODNESS?
If we took a survey, asking people one question, "Are you good?" most people would
respond, "Yes!" Ask them, "What makes you good?" Responses will be:
♦
 
I don't cheat so I'm good.
♦
 
I don't lie so that makes me good.
♦
 
I don't steal, so I'm good.
If you analyze the above rationales, there is not much substance in them. Just think of
the person who says, "I don't cheat." Well, that only means that he is not a cheat. And the
persons who say they don't lie and steal, only mean that they are not liars and thieves.
But that doesn't make them good. A person becomes good when he actually does good
rather than not doing wrong. A person of values would be one who has qualities such as
fairness, compassion, courage, integrity, empathy, humility, loyalty and courtesy. What

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makes a person with these qualities good person? It is because these are the kind of
people who are dependable, stand up for justice, help the needy, make life better for
themselves and those around them. To recognize goodness in all its forms, we need
benchmarks and standards. Benchmarks can be ethical, or legal, or both. Ethical ones
deal with right and wrong and all the gray areas that are in between leading to what is
good and more good and what is bad and more bad.
*journal of the American Family Association, November / December 1991.