13 Remarkable People Who Made Kindness Their Superpower

In a world that often celebrates ambition and toughness, kindness can sometimes be overlooked or mistaken for weakness. But time and again, certain individuals prove that true strength lies in compassion, empathy, and generosity. These inspiring people remind us that choosing kindness—especially when it’s not easy—can have the most powerful impact of all.

1.

• Last month, one of our teammates had to take sudden time off due to a family emergency. It was clear they were going through a lot. What we didn’t know until this week was that our manager had been secretly covering their workload and sending food deliveries to their house every few days. Never mentioned it. Didn’t make it about herself. Just did it.

2.

• “I was in NYC taking a lunch break at a job I absolutely hated. I was sitting alone, eating at a McDonald’s, when after about 15 minutes, a man in his 40s or 50s walked up to me. (I was a 28-year-old male at the time.)
  He looked at me and said something like, ‘Hey man, you look really sad. Things will get better,’ and then shook my hand. It takes a lot for one adult man to offer that kind of support to another stranger. It really cheered me up.” © Unknown author / Reddit

3.

• “When my daughter was young we were in a store and she wanted a doll. I didn’t have the money to buy it. So a woman heard our conversation and gave me 20$ to buy the doll for her. My daughter still talks about this, 30 years later. And I was recently in the same store and a little girl asked her mom for a toy and mom said she didn’t have the money. I told her about my daughter and gave her 20$ to buy her daughter a toy. I will never forget that woman who made a life long memory for my daughter” © eeyorex / Reddit

4.

• “I volunteered once at a friend’s Eagle Scout project (for those who weren’t boy scouts, it’s the final project, usually volunteer work, and required to earn the highest rank (Eagle) before you turn 18 and no longer qualify). His project was handing out blankets to homeless people on Christmas Eve. I’ve never seen so many tears of joy and I’ll never forget it. Never looked at a blanket the same way again.” © Unknown author / Reddit

5.

• “I was driving to a work session one day and it was raining bad. i noticed a mans car had broken down and he was trying to push it to get it out of the street. a truck drove by and seen he was struggling so they pulled over and helped him push the car out of the street. it was bittersweet to see a stranger helping a stranger.” © mezmorizedmiss / Reddit

6.

• I never wanted a stepdad. When my mom remarried, I made it clear I wasn’t interested in him being part of my life. Then, one day, I accidentally broke a family vase. Panicking, I blamed it on him, convinced he’d get in trouble. To my surprise, he didn’t get angry. Instead, he simply took the fall for me, telling my mom it was his fault. “I know how important this is to you,” he said calmly. When I later apologized, he just smiled. “Family takes care of each other, no matter what.”

7.

• “A man in a full business suit with a briefcase handed me an umbrella during a torrential rainstorm and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I still had to walk through Times Square to get to the train, and I’m sure he got soaked going wherever he was headed.
  A couple of weeks later, I gave the umbrella to a lost girl in my neighborhood when it started to rain, and she didn’t have one. It felt like the universe wanted it to happen.
  I’ll never forget that man, though.” © Unknown author / Reddit

8.

• “When I was 15 or 16, my parents dropped me off at the mall to meet up with my girlfriend. We had a small argument, and she dumped me on the spot, literally running into the arms of some guy she knew—right in front of me.
  I was emotionally wrecked and called my parents no less than 30 times, but I got no answer. I was about to start walking the 8 miles back home when a kid in the grade above me came up and asked what was wrong. He drove me home and made me feel like my life wasn’t over. Thank you, Brian.” © clappedhams / Reddit

9.

• “Was standing in line at the grocery store two days before Thanksgiving. All the lines were long so I moved into one and prepared to wait. Got a text from work and my nose was in my phone, not really realizing the line hadn’t moved in quite a while. When I looked up I saw a woman at the cash register crying because her assistance card (electronic food stamps) was not working and she had no money. A woman behind me passed all of us and gave the cashier her credit card, said Happy Thanksgiving to the crying woman, and paid for all her groceries. It all happened so quickly but it was truly the nicest thing I’d ever seen anyone do.” © Beginning_Werewolf61 / Reddit

10.

• “One time when I was 17, I fell asleep crying with my head on a friend’s lap. She didn’t want to wake me, so she just let me sleep for over 2 hours, never moving an inch, without eating or making a sound. She is still my friend to this day. People like her are worth holding on to.”
  © _Fioura_ / Reddit

11.

• I found the wallet on the subway floor—no ID, just $600 in cash and a bakery receipt. Rent was due, and I was broke. I slipped it into my coat and told myself it was a lucky break. But I couldn’t shake the feeling. A couple days later, I walked into the bakery out of curiosity. An older woman behind the counter saw the wallet in my hand and froze.
  “That was my husband’s,” she whispered. “He died last week. That receipt was the last thing he bought me.” I gave her the wallet—and the money—without hesitation. The next morning, my landlord knocked with an envelope. “A woman came by. Said you’d understand. Your rent’s covered for the next three months.”

12.

• I was sitting in a coffee shop, sobbing over my phone. I didn’t notice the guy across from me until he passed me a napkin with his number and “Call if you need help.” I never called. Months later, I saw him in the new she ran a shelter for abused women. That napkin stayed in my wallet as a reminder I wasn’t alone.

13.

• I was driving through a remote stretch of highway at night when I saw a car pulled off on the shoulder, hazard lights blinking. A man stood next to it, waving. I kept going — too many horror stories about stopping for strangers. But 10 minutes later, I hit something. My tire blew out. No signal, no spare. As I sat there panicking, headlights appeared behind me — the same broken-down car.
  The man got out, holding a jack. “Thought you might need this. I waited, figured you’d run into the pothole too.” He helped me change my tire, wished me well, and drove off — in his still-busted car.

It’s small acts of kindness that often leave the biggest mark. In the end, compassion doesn’t just change others—it transforms us too.