Where does kindness come from?

Wikipedia says-Kindness is the act or the state of being kind and marked by charitable behaviour, marked by mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others. It is a recognized value in many cultures and religions (see ethics in religion).

In philosophy

• According to book two of Aristotle's "Rhetoric" it is one of the emotions (see Plutchik's wheel), which is defined as being "helpfulness towards some one in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped".
• Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that kindness and love are the "most curative herbs and agents in human intercourse".
  
• Kindness is considered to be one of the Knightly Virtues.

In religion

• It is considered to be one of the seven virtues, specifically the one of the Seven Contrary Virtues (direct opposites of the seven deadly sins) that is the direct opposite to envy.
• The Talmud claims that "deeds of kindness are equal in weight to all the commandments."
• Paul of Tarsus defines love as being "patient and kind..." (I Corinthians).
• In Buddhism, one of the Ten Perfections (Paramitas) is Mettā, which is usually translated into English as "loving-kindness". Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama wrote "my religion is kindness" and authored a book entitled "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight".
• Confucius urges his followers to "recompense kindness with kindness."

In psychology

In a study of 37 cultures around the world, sixteen thousand subjects were asked about their most desired traits in a mate. For both sexes, the first preference was kindness (the second was intelligence).

I have often wondered if I am truly a kind person. I deeply care about others, and would literally do anything in certain situations. It's hard to watch others suffer and not be able to do much but watch. Haiti, now Chile, Japan and all others suffering from natural disasters get immediate attention and concern from us, but what about people currently suffering from "life". What about the people from Iraq, Africa, and all other smaller yet significant people throughout the world who haven't suffered a natural disaster? What about them? What about the countless orphaned, trafficked, and or abused children, battered, abused, slaved women, the forgotten aged men and women. What about them? It breaks my heart that we are so quick to move when natural disasters strike and so we should, but we live within confined natural disasters within our daily lives.

kindsness-charitable behaviour, marked by mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others.

So what is kindness? Am I kind because I think of other people and constantly feel hurt by their pain? I am conflicted because the definition states that kindness is also a mild disposition and that I do have... but in my book, "mild disposition" means that I do nothing to show my kindness. What I mean is are my prayers and thoughts "ENOUGH" to call myself kind? If you are like me, you are probably asking yourself the same question.

A friend posted on her blog,"Anytime there is natural disaster, or any disaster, it really makes me think and ponder and step out of day to day life as we live it. But, it is always far, far away and we just pray and contribute what we can."

As I read her words, it filled me with sadness the same as whenever I see pictures from Haiti, or Chile or when I think of the huge disaster in Sri Lanka a while back. We are truly blessed to have and live the lives we live. The trials and tribulations we have are not less just different and yet I can say that we are blessed. Sometimes I feel that I should be doing more...I just don't know what more I should be doing. So am I really kind?