What is a "good" person?

Saint

Saint

Valued Senior Member
Can you tell me, how to be good?
Good to others and good to yourself.

Why I ask so, because in this world, most people are selfish and take advantage of others, pursue their own good at the expense of others.
In this society, try to be good always appear to be stupid,
we can be good, but at the same time we must know how to protect ourselves and sometimes, I would say, just "pretend to be good".
Hypocrite? Yes, in order to survive.
 
Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

For extra special goodness, do so regardless of their behavior.

If you want to be a really saintly person, find people asking for help, and help them...in ways calculated to be effective at making their lives better.

I do know what you mean-kindness can be taken advantage of-I read a Buddhist book that mentions "idiot compassion." When you give help, you want to be careful not to be taken in by a con artist, and you want to not render someone dependent on you.

This takes practice, you know.

In time you start to develop a gut sense when dealing with people of "something not right." That is what will warn you that you are about to be taken advantage of, and stop you from "helping" someone who would do better to manage on their own.
 
Doing good things just helps your life be better.

If you never gave or contributed anything to anyone else, no-one would help you.
If you insulted everyone you meet then eventually people will avoid you.
If you kill people you would be locked up....etc.



Treat others how you like to be treated. This is a common phrase in many doctrines and philosophies, and is known by pretty much everyone who has ever lived.
 
I prefer to define a good person is a person who knows how to protect himself.
Protect yourself first before thinking about helping others.
 
Saint said:
I prefer to define a good person is a person who knows how to protect himself.
Protect yourself first before thinking about helping others.
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From what? If you don't ever take risks then you'll never live life to its fullest. So if you see a person that was hit by a car lying in the street you wouldn't help them because you too could be hit by a car?
 
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it is my right whether to help, no legal obligation,
anyway, I will call ambulance.
 
Saint said:
Can you tell me, how to be good?
Good to others and good to yourself.

Why I ask so, because in this world, most people are selfish and take advantage of others, pursue their own good at the expense of others.
In this society, try to be good always appear to be stupid,
we can be good, but at the same time we must know how to protect ourselves and sometimes, I would say, just "pretend to be good".
Hypocrite? Yes, in order to survive.
Click to expand...

You use profanity (vulgarities) and pay for sex.
What is your obscession with proclaiming that you are "moral" in this threads?

Even morality follows a CERTAIN logic and you couldn't even accept it, Saint. Why all this justification. Is it you want to be a good person but only within your wants and desires?
 
you do not have any yardstick to judge me.
moral or immoral is individual's discretion.
whatever i did if did not send me to jail is moral.
 
Saquist said:
You use profanity (vulgarities) and pay for sex.
What is your obscession with proclaiming that you are "moral" in this threads?

Even morality follows a CERTAIN logic and you couldn't even accept it, Saint. Why all this justification. Is it you want to be a good person but only within your wants and desires?
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Who hasn't done questionable things? I'm not an angle, yet I'm not a bad person either, or so I believe. I think it does depend on how you measure morality. Certainly the values of one person differ from those of another. I think we could spend a lot of time on this thread analyzing and arguing over the various aspects that define a good person, but in the end, it's all subjective.
 
Saint said:
you do not have any yardstick to judge me.
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Sure I do Saint.
That which you take at the expense of others is a yardstick.
That which you take selfishlessly regardless of the feelings of others is a yardstick. Apathy to other humans beings worth is a yardstick.
moral or immoral is individual's discretion.
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OF COURSE it is. But lets call a duck a duck.
Everything we know about morals tells both of us that it's not what concerns you. You avoided all those points. You avoid being defined as immoral and that is a tell.

whatever i did if did not send me to jail is moral.
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FALLACY.
The Law does not establish morality.
The Law establishes rights.
And if you're in the US (not Las Vegas) then you did violate the law.


Bowser said:
Who hasn't done questionable things? I'm not an angle, yet I'm not a bad person either, or so I believe.
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Many of us believe that but I think it's better to let others judge such a vanity. It's difficult to be objective about such things.
I think it does depend on how you measure morality. Certainly the values of one person differ from those of another.
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Obviously.

I think we could spend a lot of time on this thread analyzing and arguing over the various aspects that define a good person, but in the end, it's all subjective.
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Not necessarily.
There is a universal truth to morality but it's often avoided just as Saints avoids. It can be seen as a philosophy of sorts and therefor undefinable but I believe that universal quality is selflessness or selfishness, it can't always be defined by actions but it is the best indicator.
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Saint said:
Can you tell me, how to be good?
Good to others and good to yourself.

Why I ask so, because in this world, most people are selfish and take advantage of others, pursue their own good at the expense of others.
In this society, try to be good always appear to be stupid,
we can be good, but at the same time we must know how to protect ourselves and sometimes, I would say, just "pretend to be good".
Hypocrite? Yes, in order to survive.
Click to expand...

Yeah eat your vegetables, don't smoke to much weed or drink to much beer . Tip your hooker good and the waitress too . Always put a dollar in a street musicians guitar case when you see em playing on the street and last but not least call your mother and tell her you been good.
 
Saint said:
if u can not be good to yourself, how can you be good to others? :?
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Sometimes we beat ourselves up more internally than anyone from the outside ever could for things we might have done. If you are doing this to yourself, many do, it doesn't mean that you have to take out your feelings on others around you. So you can be harmful to yourself just as easily as being good to yourself , it depends upon how you think and deal with internal problems.
 
A good person is one who treats people the way they would themselves like to be treated, with kindness and respect - I'll allow for exceptions in the circumstance that someone is a complete asshole and doesn't deserve good treatment.
Of course a good person is very rare, and most people turn on the innocent at some point, even amongst those who do great things with their lives. :shrug:
 
cosmictraveler said:
Sometimes we beat ourselves up more internally than anyone from the outside ever could for things we might have done. If you are doing this to yourself, many do, it doesn't mean that you have to take out your feelings on others around you. So you can be harmful to yourself just as easily as being good to yourself , it depends upon how you think and deal with internal problems.
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We also let ourselves get away with more than we do others
We pretend to be blameless and innocent when the truth is we are often the source of the problem. Human nature is to error. Human ego is to avoid culpability.
 
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