20+ Moments That Remind Us That Kindness Costs Nothing but Means Everything

Sometimes it seems like there’s no room left in the world for genuine kindness. But all it takes is to hear one simple story — about random help, sincere support, or a small yet significant act — and it feels like your heart remembers that the world is still full of light. In this article, we put together stories that prove — kindness is all around us, and it is always stronger than any hardship. While reading them, you start believing in people a little bit more than you did yesterday.

• One night I was walking in the city center. Suddenly, I felt something soft underfoot. I picked it up and saw that it was a wallet; there was no cash, but there were some bank cards and a driver’s license. I found the person in social media by name and was amazed to find we had the same birthdate, so I wrote to him.
  Half an hour later, a big guy shows up, driving a Mercedes. He thanked me, asked for my number, then immediately opened a banking app and transferred me $555.55. I was just blown away! © Di.Shiper / Pikabu
• We went to relax at the lakes in the summer. My husband went fishing in the morning and brought back a live crucian carp. What to do with it was unclear. It seemed too much hassle to dirty a pan for one fish, and there were no cats nearby to treat.
  So, we put it in a bowl of water and made a shade from above with leaves. At lunchtime, I needed that bowl. We decided to release the fish back. But how?
  Well, we put the bowl in the car, took it to the lake, and carefully tried to release it into the water from the bowl. But it didn’t want to go! It must have been warmer in the bowl.
  Somehow, we managed to persuade the fish to return to the lake. Probably it was the only fish in the world that was brought back from fishing in a car. © DoRaMiller / Pikabu

• We moved into a new house, enrolled my daughter in school, and got acquainted with all the parents. Suddenly, one day, I received 3 calls and a video from local moms asking if I knew the man who was walking my daughter out of school.
  I looked at the video and was stunned: the man with my daughter was my husband, her father, who had been receiving treatment for almost half a year and was supposed to be in the hospital. It turned out he was discharged a day early and decided to pick up our daughter from school himself.
  The surprise worked! People were alarmed, and one mom even followed them from a distance until she received my response. That’s when I realized we had chosen a good neighborhood to raise our children. © Overheard / VK
• My husband lost his phone. We called and called, finally a girl answered. She said she found the phone in the park. When I arrived, she was there with her mom.
  Their worn-out sneakers caught my eye. I wanted to give them money, but they refused. So, I couldn’t think of anything smarter than to run off, leaving the money behind. © Mamdarinka / VK
• I worked in a boutique in Milan. Summer. Heat. Tourists. One sat at the boutique’s door with a dog, and the dog was barely breathing.
  I brought them water and suggested they come in to let the dog cool down. But the man said, “I have no money.” I wasn’t asking for any! I’m a long-time dog owner myself. We started talking, and it turned out the man was a friend of our brand’s owner.
  In the evening, he came to buy a tuxedo for La Scala. He waited for me, thinking we worked on commission. So sweet! He called the boss and praised me.
  Many years have passed. I still remember him. © lacrimacristi / YouTube

• 30 years ago, my husband left me with 2 small children in my care. Money was desperately short, even though I worked weekends at the market. One morning, I opened my wallet and it was completely empty. I had no money for food.
  Suddenly, my fingers felt something at the bottom of my bag. I fiddled with the bag in every direction but couldn’t figure out how to reach under the lining. Then I checked the small pocket of the bag and found a tiny hole (I still don’t know how it appeared).
  In short, I stuck my finger in the hole and found a decent amount of cash folded in half under the lining. Can you believe it?! There was no way the money could have gotten through that tiny hole in the pocket! No way. To this day, I have no explanation for this miracle. © Olga / Dzen
• A relative of mine worked as an engineer at a factory. One morning, he stopped at a gas station and found a folder near the pump containing quite a large sum of money and documents.
  At that time, he lived modestly and could easily have kept the money (there were no surveillance cameras back then) — no one would have found him. But being an honest man, he decided to return everything to the owner. Moreover, there was a business card with a phone number in the folder.
  After a while, a man in a suit arrived. He greeted modestly. He casually asked my relative’s name and where he worked. He offered his humble thanks and said that a man as honest as him would do well in life, then left. It seemed like the end of the story.
  But some time later, my relative received a high position and an overseas business trip from the factory to a warm, wealthy country... Naturally, with a very good salary increase. On this business trip, he met the owner of that folder, who turned out to be a significant figure in the factory’s upper management.
  As a sign of gratitude for returning his belongings and documents, he quietly helped my relative rise in both career and life. © HondaShadow / Pikabu

• A man with a little dog came into my office. He wanted to buy fasteners for a net. While I was processing the order, he told me that he took this dog from a shelter. No one wanted to take her because she was old.
  So I said, “Here are the fasteners for you. Free of charge. You’re a wonderful person: you did a good deed, and it should come back to you.” These fasteners cost mere pennies, so I didn’t really do anything significant.
  The next day, he returned and brought ice cream for me and my coworker. He spent more money than those fasteners cost. I blushed like a beet. I even ended up crying later. © juli.moonli / Threads
• Dark, winter. I walked out of the store with a bag of groceries, and the bag tore open, spilling everything. What to do? I had already walked away from the store; the groceries were in the snow, and I was trying to gather them in my hands, everything was falling apart. Felt like crying!
  A guy seemed to be rushing to help me, and then he ran off somewhere. Great! But then I saw he returned from the store with bags. It seems like a minor incident, but I remember him. Thank you, kind person! © Galina S. / Dzen
• My mother-in-law is amazing. After the divorce, when I was at my financial lowest, she added half the amount needed for a decent 2-bedroom apartment. Not for me, of course, but for her grandson — my son.
  She never meddled with advice or reproaches. She didn’t defend her son. She looked at the situation objectively. I wish I had that much wisdom in life.
  My husband and I eventually got back together, and everything worked out. But I am very grateful to her for the support at the moment when the world around me was falling apart. © Overheard / Ideer

• When I was 19 and broke, I worked at a gas station in the next town over from mine, about 15 miles away. My manager was awesome! He gave me the grocery products that had to be pulled on their best by date, when company policy said he couldn’t.
  He’d run fake pump tests to front me gas before payday so I could get home and back whenever he’d find me sleeping in my car behind the station (my rent alone was about 2 1/2 weeks’ pay), he gave me extra uniform shirts for free, so I didn’t have to go to the laundromat as often.
  He was great. Jim, thank you, and I miss you! © SallyHeap / Reddit
• I was taking a bus home. As we were leaving the city, it stalled, and it was already getting dark. What can you do? Another girl and I, in desperation, started trying to hitch a ride.
  The thing was, it was a traffic jam, and the drivers could clearly see our situation. But for a long time, no one stopped. I was already imagining spending the night on the roadside in the woods.
  But we got lucky! A man picked us up, he was traveling with his daughter to visit relatives. He shared how he used to live in a village and often walked to school with his friends, and they’d get rides, too. This is how he pays it forward.
  On the way, we even gave a lift to an elderly man to a village. In short, we need more decent people like this. Thank you! © game_of_mylife / Threads
• This happened back in 1984. I was heavily pregnant with our first son (my husband and I got married as students). He had just graduated from college, and I was in my third year.
  We borrowed a little money from a neighbor. Bought bread, milk, some vegetables. Just some change left.
  In the evening, we took a stroll before bed. Passed by a movie theater, decided to go in. We didn’t have quite enough for the tickets, and we only found it out when we handed the money at the box office. The cashier loudly announced we were short on money.
  I wanted to see the movie so badly I broke down in tears and couldn’t calm down. Then the cashier said, “Go ahead in, let this be your biggest sorrow in the world!” I still remember that woman with gratitude. © Mila Tsvetkova / Dzen

• My mood just lifted up! I woke up because I was insanely hungry, and the fridge was empty. Gloomy and angry, I went to the store. When I was paying, I took a bill from my wallet and placed it on the tray.
  I looked closely and saw a little heart drawn on the edge with the words, “Happiness to you, whoever you may be.” At first, I even wanted to take it back, but then I thought, “Let it keep traveling and bringing moments of joy to people.” © Overheard / Ideer
• Going from a grocery store to my car in the rain. I’m trying to balance carrying my infant, 2 bags of groceries, keep an umbrella over everything, and open my trunk. This middle-aged, bearded, longhaired behemoth of a man comes sprinting through the rain over to us without an umbrella of his own.
  He opens my trunk, holds the umbrella over baby and me, while I load the groceries. Afterwards, he handed me the umbrella back and said, “When she gets bigger, tell her an old hippie helped you!” before sprinting away again. © sauron-lorenson / Reddit
• This happened more than 10 years ago. I rushed into the train 2 minutes before departure. I had no food with me and an empty wallet. Well, everyone was having dinner, and I sat there buried in a book.
  Then one guy said, “Miss, would you like some tea?” I wouldn’t mind, I said. And with the tea came some cookies. I took a couple, although I was terribly hungry.
  Then came a little sandwich and chicken. If he had offered chicken right away, it might have been awkward. In short, he fed me and distracted me with conversations from sad thoughts. Sam, if you’re reading this — thank you!

• This morning, I was walking and saw an elderly lady dragging a shopping bag on wheels, with a leash in her other hand. And it was empty. I vividly imagined myself wandering around the city with an imaginary dog on a leash.
  I stand there, holding back tears, and then I see something darting through the park. It was a dog. I ran after it and then caught up with the lady. She didn’t notice that the dog was missing and never understood why I was holding it in my arms. © hey___jul / Threads
• During rush hour, I was going to work, the bus was packed. When I stepped inside with my one foot, the bus started moving. I pulled up the second foot and felt that my shoe stayed on the sidewalk — my foot was bare.
  The door hadn’t even closed yet, and before I could burst into tears, I felt my shoe back on my foot! Someone took the trouble, chased the bus, and put my not-so-glass slipper back on my foot! © Lyudmila Pyanykh / Dzen
• When I was on maternity leave, I used to go to the market every weekend and buy cottage cheese from the same farmer. The cottage cheese was delicious, and the woman was kind.
  One time my child got very sick, and a huge amount of money went to his treatment. Cottage cheese was the last thing on my mind. When we came back to the market after some time, the seller was really happy to see us. When she found out my child was sick, she gave him a jar of baked cream as a gift.
  She always added a little extra for us. That market has been closed for many years, but I always remember that woman warmly. © Mad Squirrel / Dzen

• I was about 10 years old. Once, my mom and I were walking through the market, buying groceries, vegetables, and fruits. We came up to a book stall. I wanted her to buy me something to read. But we had little money left.
  I was very upset, and then a saleswoman ran up to us and said to me, “Boy, here’s a book for you for free.” I don’t remember what the book was, but the moment was awesome. © Denis S / Dzen
• I had lost my job and was crying upstairs in my thin walled apartment. I hear a knock on my door, and it’s my downstairs neighbor, who is a much older lady. Without saying a word, when I open the door, she just hugs me. And I continued to cry.
  I still very much so appreciate receiving that hug in my time of stress and am grateful she came upstairs to be kind to me. I really needed that hug. © stressandscreaming / Reddit
• I was returning home at night from a trip. I left a bag with documents, money, and a phone in a taxi. I was standing in the dark train station square, crying.
  Suddenly, a guy came up, asked me what happened, helped me into his car, and we raced to catch up with the taxi. The guy had been at the parking lot and remembered the car’s number. We caught up with it!
  Alex, if by any chance you’re reading this, I think of you very often, thank you! © Tatyana S. / Dzen

And these stories show that kindness can be the strongest force of all.