The context of the above quote comes from a survivor of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, whose book Night I highly recommend reading. The actions taken against the Jews occurred for a matter of reasons descending from both the dark depths of the human self and the darker depths of self preservation over others. His accounts prove how horrible humans can be, but his spirit and kindness show how loving and forgiving they can be as well.
I’ve always been the kind of person that loves animals. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved seeing animals, learning about them, and even pretending to be them in imaginative play. Even now, my friends comment on how many animal documentaries I watch, and I can barely wait to get home from school to greet my dog and fish. Most of all, my adherence to fighting animal cruelty has impacted my life more than anything else. When you learn about some of the horrible things people do to animals, it’s no wonder why we’ve never achieved world peace. What I have found in my own observations of the world is that people tend to be more cruel to those they see as different from themselves. This can manifest in people beating up animals because they believe an animal has less reason to live than they do, or racists disliking other races based on their skin color, or even girls and boys who playfully joke about the grotesque natures of each other on the playground. And when we do see those that are different from us being hurt or tortured, we shy away from helping, whether it be from the issue feeling unrelated to us, or the embarrassment of trying to help, or the repercussions of offering help. I have experienced this many times before, as I’ve witnessed the brutality of humans attacking humans before. Campaigns against bullying and the idea of,”just stepping in” seem far-fetched and cheesy at times, because we hold an attitude of isolationism towards our fellow man. It may be a dog-eat-dog world, but that doesn’t mean we should allow others to go without help. Showing kindness does nothing to hinder you or the other person, and it makes the world a better place.
An example of this kindness comes in the form of altruism. Altruism can be seen in ants, ravens, elephants, primates, and others. Even cases of leopards saving monkeys and dolphins saving whales shows the compassion animals can find in themselves to help others in distress. Humans may elovate themselves above animals because of our intelligence and morality, but altruism has slowly faded from our society. It becomes cool to be apathetic, and people are too introverted or distracted to realize the struggles of those around them. I believe if animals can carry a sense of empathy for other creatures, humans can as well. We should all strive to care more, or feel more, because it’s those emotions that make us human. If the world sits back and watches others fall, how long until the individual falls and no one helps them.
A personal story of mine related to this topic comes from when I was at my old middle school in gym class. Everyone was running outside around the outside of the building, and I happened to trip and fall into a ditch. I was relatively ahead of the group while running, so many others were behind me. I had experienced a small blow to the head, so I was a little dazed and struggled to get up, among other small cuts and bruises. However, what hurt me the most was as I lied on the ground, struggling to get up, so many others ran past me. And by the time the last few people had jogged past, I was starting to give up hope. Then, the last few stragglers, a few girls, ran over to me and helped me up, and allowed me to lean on them while I stumbled back to the school. Their genuine kindness touched me, and we eventually became friends because of it. If it weren’t for them, I could have lied there for some time before getting any help.
The end result being I did recover, but I learned that people can truly be oblivious to others they may not know. I vowed to be a kind person from that incident, and because of the kindness I show, I find that I attract good things from it. I sincerely encourage everyone to consider their own life by considering others. If you see someone struggling with an assignment, offer them help. If you see someone getting pushed around or uncomfortable in a group, confront the people respectfully. There’s so many people in this world with so many problems. Is it not better to ease the pain of others than to allow the world to get worse? All it takes is a bit of thinking and care to be the person that helps the one who falls, and trust me, you will never be forgotten for it.
I’ve always been the kind of person that loves animals. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved seeing animals, learning about them, and even pretending to be them in imaginative play. Even now, my friends comment on how many animal documentaries I watch, and I can barely wait to get home from school to greet my dog and fish. Most of all, my adherence to fighting animal cruelty has impacted my life more than anything else. When you learn about some of the horrible things people do to animals, it’s no wonder why we’ve never achieved world peace. What I have found in my own observations of the world is that people tend to be more cruel to those they see as different from themselves. This can manifest in people beating up animals because they believe an animal has less reason to live than they do, or racists disliking other races based on their skin color, or even girls and boys who playfully joke about the grotesque natures of each other on the playground. And when we do see those that are different from us being hurt or tortured, we shy away from helping, whether it be from the issue feeling unrelated to us, or the embarrassment of trying to help, or the repercussions of offering help. I have experienced this many times before, as I’ve witnessed the brutality of humans attacking humans before. Campaigns against bullying and the idea of,”just stepping in” seem far-fetched and cheesy at times, because we hold an attitude of isolationism towards our fellow man. It may be a dog-eat-dog world, but that doesn’t mean we should allow others to go without help. Showing kindness does nothing to hinder you or the other person, and it makes the world a better place.
An example of this kindness comes in the form of altruism. Altruism can be seen in ants, ravens, elephants, primates, and others. Even cases of leopards saving monkeys and dolphins saving whales shows the compassion animals can find in themselves to help others in distress. Humans may elovate themselves above animals because of our intelligence and morality, but altruism has slowly faded from our society. It becomes cool to be apathetic, and people are too introverted or distracted to realize the struggles of those around them. I believe if animals can carry a sense of empathy for other creatures, humans can as well. We should all strive to care more, or feel more, because it’s those emotions that make us human. If the world sits back and watches others fall, how long until the individual falls and no one helps them.
A personal story of mine related to this topic comes from when I was at my old middle school in gym class. Everyone was running outside around the outside of the building, and I happened to trip and fall into a ditch. I was relatively ahead of the group while running, so many others were behind me. I had experienced a small blow to the head, so I was a little dazed and struggled to get up, among other small cuts and bruises. However, what hurt me the most was as I lied on the ground, struggling to get up, so many others ran past me. And by the time the last few people had jogged past, I was starting to give up hope. Then, the last few stragglers, a few girls, ran over to me and helped me up, and allowed me to lean on them while I stumbled back to the school. Their genuine kindness touched me, and we eventually became friends because of it. If it weren’t for them, I could have lied there for some time before getting any help.
The end result being I did recover, but I learned that people can truly be oblivious to others they may not know. I vowed to be a kind person from that incident, and because of the kindness I show, I find that I attract good things from it. I sincerely encourage everyone to consider their own life by considering others. If you see someone struggling with an assignment, offer them help. If you see someone getting pushed around or uncomfortable in a group, confront the people respectfully. There’s so many people in this world with so many problems. Is it not better to ease the pain of others than to allow the world to get worse? All it takes is a bit of thinking and care to be the person that helps the one who falls, and trust me, you will never be forgotten for it.