Good People: Restoring Faith in Humanity, One Story at a Time

“The truth is, the book of human decency continues to be written every day. Let’s all keep adding stories to it together.”
– from Good People by Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell

I’d Rather Be Wrong

Sometimes I want to be wrong.

A friend of mine was about to face a hard conversation at work. I had a hunch it would turn out bad. I hoped for good, but expected worse.

Unfortunately, I was right. The conversation was a disaster for her. Sadly, my prediction about her boss was correct this time.

Watching people mistreat another can shake my faith in humanity. That’s when I need reminders of better examples. So I picked out this book to review, Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity, collated by Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell of Upworthy, an online gathering spot for uplifting stories.

The book gave me exactly what I needed—real-life stories from everyday people that showcase the small miracles of kindness and compassion that restore our hope in each other.

Stories of Kindness

The stories in Good People don’t revolve around world-changing events, but they hold an equally strong, albeit quiet, power for the individual at the heart of each story.

One story is written by a woman who loses her dog Milo in the woods. Many residents of the town come together, spending two days and nights to search for the lost pet, until at last Milo was found, safe and sound.

“I couldn’t believe how many kind and selfless people spent so many hours with no other motivation than helping a dog get home. For weeks after, people would stop us on the street because they recognized Milo and were happy to see him safe and healthy. See? Humans aren’t so bad after all.”

Another story describes a science teacher who shared her classroom and a sandwich every day with an unpopular student. Her compassion was a simple gesture, but it left a lifelong impact on the student.

“To this day, I look back on Mr. Wilkerson with gratitude. A sandwich provides one kind of nourishment; compassion provides another. And the latter, for me, meant everything. . . . Her random act of kindness was a gift in itself, reminding me that there are good people in the world—people who do kind things for other people just because they can.”

These small moments, whether a sandwich or a supportive word, showcase how everyday kindness can nourish both body and soul.

Lessons on Humanity

Throughout Good People, I constantly found recurring themes of empathy and human connection. As readers tell their stories, I was reminded that, despite the negative moments we witness or experience, there is also kindness waiting to be discovered.

Here are a few lessons that the writers learned from their individual stories:

• Even when it feels like I’m completely alone, I’m not.
• I learned the world isn’t necessarily a scary place. Kindness is there when I need it.
• Just because I can’t see a way out doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
• Live to give.
• Mermaids may not exist in real life, but good people do. I’ll never stop believing in that.

Some stories are several pages long. Other stories are  simply a paragraph, like this one:

“I was in my first year of law school and driving home late at night, stressed after studying all day for finals. I was stopped at a traffic light, crying a bit, when a guy knocked on my passenger side window, holding out a bouquet of flowers. He was driving a florist delivery truck, noticed I was upset, and said he hoped the flowers would make me feel better. That was more than 30 years ago, and about once a week I think of him and wish him well.”
—Emily W.

But long or short, each story is meaningful. It showcases a human being’s kindness to another, their empathy, in real life situations, proof that at the base of each of us lies a strong foundation of goodness.

And when given the right opportunity, we are more than happy to pour out that goodness onto others. Or have it poured out onto us.

Keep Adding Your Stories

After a few days of hearing my friend’s unfortunate story unravel about the mistreatment by her boss, I dove back into more stories inside the pages of Good People.

It reminded me again that for every moment of disappointment, there are also many acts of goodness happening all around the world—someone helping a stranger, a community coming together, or simply a friend being present for another who needs them.

“Less than a month later, Dexter received a beautiful handwritten note that brought tears to my eyes. At the bottom, they had one request: Always remember that most people in the world are nice.”

This book is more than just a collection of inspiring stories—it shows us the innate beauty in fellow human beings. And it encourages us to go show kindness to other humans around us. That is powerful.

More about Upworthy:

“Upworthy is a gathering place, online and off, for all those who champion the core belief that people are inherently good, and that we have more in common than not. Founded in 2012, it reaches 100 million people a month through various channels across social media, web, and email. Join us @upworthy on all platforms.”

Have you experienced a moment of kindness lately? Share your story in the comments—we’re still writing the story of human goodness.

HUMAN was my One Word of the Year in 2023. Good People reminded me of lessons I learned from it.

My thanks to NetGalley for the
review copy of Good People

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