World Kindness Day: Why kindness is the unlikely superpower that can save humanity
In our fractured world, compassion matters more than ever
On a cold October morning on London’s Hampstead Heath, an elderly woman collapsed. Among those who rushed to help was chart-topping singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi. He called the emergency services and refused to leave her side until the ambulance took her to hospital. It was an act of kindness, of concern for others that was perhaps made even more remarkable because of his fame. The superstar was hailed a superhero.
No less thoughtful or kind was a recent incident involving refuse worker Richard Colgrave. During his rounds early one morning, he came across a chicken dumped in a carrier bag. The bird, barely alive, had been thrown away like rubbish. Disgusted and angered by this dreadful animal cruelty, he rescued the bird, which recovered and has since been found a home.
Stories like these remind us why kindness matters – not just in extraordinary moments, but in everyday life. Kindness is a thread that binds us all. Community kindness projects, from food banks to wildlife rescue, show how small acts ripple outward.
Busy, stressful lives
Today we mark World Kindness Day. We all recognise kindness in incidents, actions and in others. Tangible actions that resonate. Little moments of positivity that can make a big difference. Random acts that create goodness and spread wellbeing.
It is about more than friendliness. It’s an awareness that our actions can shape lives for better or worse. We all have so much going on that sometimes kindness gets pushed aside. We don’t always mean it. Sometimes, life just gets in the way.
Being stressed or distracted or just in a hurry can have us behaving thoughtlessly when we really didn’t mean it. We’ve all felt that sting of indifference - a curt email, a smile unanswered. That feeling of having been left out of a conversation. There’s a fine line between small acts of kindness, thoughtlessness and disregard.
Social glue that binds us together
As a great person once rightly said, “kindness is the highest form of intelligence”. This challenges us to appreciate that real kindness is more than just behaviour. It’s a true superpower. It has the ability to help us act instinctively, on impulse, to support others in need. To uplift those around us, to help them heal, and connect.
It’s not only about making a moral choice, but a practical one. Research shows that it can improve mental health, reduce stress, and strengthen communities. When we choose to be kind – whether by helping a neighbour, supporting local farmers who prioritise animal welfare, or protecting green spaces – we create resilience.
In a world facing uncertainty, kindness becomes a form of social glue, binding people together and fostering hope where despair might otherwise take root. And this quiet force that transforms lives has never been more vital. A super-power that makes no sound but can move mountains.
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A broken world
When kindness was voted Oxford Children’s Word of the Year in 2024, one child said: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about. We should treat everyone with kindness. You never truly know how much it could help someone.”
This was a compelling reminder that kindness is valued by all generations, something that everyone and anyone can do to make a difference. Knowing its strength empowers us all. These days, it matters more than ever and now is the time to put it at the centre of society.
Never has our world seemed so broken, with wars, famine, animal cruelty and environmental destruction. As things stand, with the impending climate crisis, the collapse of nature, and the rising risk of future pandemics, human society could be lucky to make it past the 21st century.
Abusing animals for food or amusement
But there is another way. One that’s much better for all our futures. One that isn’t confined to viewing kindness as a quality for humankind alone but for all life. One that includes in our circle of kindness, the animals whose habitats we seem to systematically destroy and the animals we abuse for amusement or for food.
One that puts a supportive arm around the wider world around us. Like the importance of farming in nature-friendly, biodiversity-supporting ways, and by embracing a healthier, plant-rich diet that nourishes people and our planet, and secures a just future for all.
Together, we can ensure that kindness extends beyond our human interactions to the way we treat the natural world. It means caring for the farmed animals whose lives are too often reduced to commodities, ensuring they experience dignity and compassion rather than confinement and suffering.
It means protecting wildlife and the countryside that sustains us, recognising that every hedgerow, every pollinator, every bird in flight is part of a delicate web of life.
Making the world a better place
True kindness calls us to farm in harmony with nature, to choose food systems that respect animals and restore biodiversity, and to embrace diets that nourish both people and planet. When we widen our circle of kindness to include all living beings and the landscapes they inhabit, we create a future rooted in empathy, compassion and sustainability.
If we could put kindness front and centre of what we do in our daily lives, the world would be a better place. If we set our gauge by ensuring the well-being of the least empowered and the voiceless, we could transcend so many of the problems currently facing society. Food poverty, homelessness, animal cruelty.
Kindness isn’t a luxury – it’s the thread that binds humanity, animals, and nature. Let’s weave it into everything we do.
Philip Lymbery is chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, president of EuroGroup for Animals, and a UN Food Systems Advisory Board member. His latest book is Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future. Philip is on X/Twitter @philip_ciwf
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