I agree with Abraham Heschel who said, “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”

Henry James was more emphatic: “Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

In 1994, Dr. Chuck Wall, a professor of human relations and management at Bakersfield College in California, came up with a concept that turned into an influential movement. Weary of hearing about “senseless acts of violence,” he began to teach and talk about “random and senseless acts of kindness.” The idea was simple: The best response to a world coarsened by selfishness and cruelty is individual acts of kindness. Now there’s a movement and website devoted to promoting random acts of kindness.

In 1999, Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote the novel Pay It Forward, which later became a movie, that built on Dr. Wall’s initial inspiration. It starts with a teacher’s assignment: “Think of an idea for world change, and put it into action.”

Trevor, the 12-year-old hero, comes up with an idea to do something “real good” for three people. All he asks for in return is that each recipient of kindness “pay it forward” by doing a good deed for three other people. If you do the math, it’s clear that such a plan could quickly change the world.

Whether acts of kindness are spontaneous as advocated by Dr. Wall or premeditated as proposed by Ms. Hyde, they’re certainly not senseless. On the contrary, they’re the best proof of good sense. Every person can send forth ripples of kindness and compassion simply by being nice.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.