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The one sign that someone is highly intelligent, according to literary genius Leo Tolstoy

He was a master of understanding the human condition.

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Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist known for epic works such as"War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina.” His life experiences—from witnessing war to spiritual quests—profoundly influenced his writings and gave him profound insights into the human soul.

His understanding of emotions, motivations and moral dilemmas has made his work stand the test of time, and it still resonates with people today.

Juan de Medeiros, a TikTokker who shares his thoughts on philosophy, recently shared how Tolstoy knew if someone was highly intelligent, and his observation says something extraordinary about humanity.

“The more intelligent a person is, the more he discovers kindness in others,” Tolstoy once wrote. “For nothing enriches the world more than kindness. It makes mysterious things clear, difficult things easy, and dull things cheerful.”

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Intelligent people are kind #intelligent #intelligence #kindness #smart #tolstoy #men #women

De Medeiros boiled down Tolstoy’s thoughts into a simple statement: “Intelligent people are unafraid to be kind.” He then took things a step further by noting that Tolstoy believed in the power of emotional intelligence. "To have emotional intelligence is to see the good in other people, that is what Tolstoy meant, that to be intelligent is to be kind," he added.

It seems that, according to de Medeiros, Tolstoy understood that intelligent people are kind and perceptive of the kindness in others. The intelligent person is conscious of the kindness within themselves and in the world around them.

Through the words of Tolstoy, de Medeiros makes a point that is often overlooked when people talk about intelligence. Truly smart people are as in touch with their hearts as they are with their minds.


This article originally appeared on 10.13.23

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Heroes

Her boyfriend gently shaved her head after her alopecia diagnosis. But what he did next is so much better.

Over 4.9 million people have already watched this incredible moment unfold.

Rex Chapman/Twitter

For people with alopecia, hair is a complicated business. Alopecia is an autoimmune condition that causes hair to fall out. Sometimes it's unnoticeable, but sometimes it falls out in patches, and when those patches connect, it can become quite noticeable. At that point, some people with alopecia choose to shave their heads and embrace baldness, wear wigs, or both.

A video shared by Rex Chapman on Twitter shows a woman having her head shaved by a man with the caption, "His girlfriend was struggling with her hair loss from alopecia. Get out the tissues. Humanity."

It's clear from the get go that the woman is feeling emotional, occasionally wiping her eyes as he repeatedly runs the razor over her head. And it's clear that he cares for her—you can see it in the way he tenderly holds her neck as he shaves.

But then, just as he's finishing the final touches, he turns the razor around, and oof. Seriously, you might want to grab a tissue.

Sweet, selfless solidarity. This is what love looks like.

People on Twitter chimed in with their own alopecia experiences and stories about going through chemo for cancer and losing their hair. Many can relate to the emotional experience of shaving their hair off and the realization that they could be beautiful bald. The woman in this video rocks the shaved head. The guy...well, a little hard to tell until he finishes the job, but his act of kindness and compassion is definitely beautiful.


This article originally appeared on 7.30.20

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Janitor has an incredible reaction to being gifted his dream Jeep by high school students

The students wanted to help the man because he was a "friend to all of us."

via GoFundMe

Students at James Madison Highschool with their janitor, Francis Apraku.

It’s not uncommon for the most likable person at any school to be the janitor. They’re the person the students can rely on whenever they’ve kicked a ball onto the roof or left their jacket in a locked classroom. They’re also right on top of things whenever there’s a nasty spill in the cafeteria or a leak in a classroom roof.

Simply put, schools can’t run without their janitorial staff.

One special janitor at a high school in Virginia was surprised when the students went out of their way to get him his dream car. “He’s more than just a custodian. He’s a dear friend to all of us. He’s just a very kind, genuine person,” one of the students said, according to KBTX.

In May 2024, some freshman students at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia, asked their favorite janitor, Francis Apraku, what he wanted for his birthday. He said his dream gift would be a Jeep Wrangler. "So, he told us his birthday's coming up and he told us he really wanted a Jeep and that was his dream car. That was his end goal in life, which was to get a Jeep Wrangler, and he was totally set. So we thought, 'We're gonna try to get him a Jeep,’" a student who helped organize the campaign said, according to WUSA 9.

Apraku came to the United States from Ghana, a country in West Africa located on the Coast of Guinea, 10 years ago.



The boys put together a GoFundMe campaign with the goal of getting their favorite janitor a Jeep by the time they graduated high school in four years. Little did they know they would have raised enough money in six months to make his dreams come true.

“We are freshmen at James Madison High School in Virginia and our favorite custodian, Francis, loves Jeep Wranglers. He moved to America away from his family and friends a few years ago. Ever since we met Francis, he has been super kind and friendly and sometimes even says prayers for us,” the students wrote on the GoFundMe page.

“We were talking to him today about what he would want for his birthday and he said he has always wanted a Jeep Wrangler but could never afford it, which is why we made this GoFundMe to try and raise enough to get Francis a Jeep Wrangler by the time we graduate. Any and all donations are very appreciated,” the post concluded.

The boys set a goal of $20,000, and they eclipsed it on September 7, 2024, so it was time to get Apraku his Jeep. The students bought the car with the help of Andy, a local car dealer.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

When the students brought Apraku to the school parking lot to show him his new red Jeep, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He fell to the ground and began rolling all over the ground. “Oh my God, Oh my God,” he said. “I don’t believe this is happening in my life…I give thanks to Almighty God for making today for me.”

Rewarding their favorite custodian was also a dream come true for the students. “I’m excited to see him whipping it around school, seeing him every day... He really deserves it,” one student said.



"We just kind of decided we were going to try to get him his Jeep Wrangler with the GoFundMe, and we never really thought that it would come this far," Logan Georgelas, one of the students who set up the FoFuneMe campaign, said according to Fox 5. "When we got $5,000 in the first day, we were like, all right, this is real."

After taking his first spin behind the wheel of his new Jeep, Apraku was impressed. "It's very, very fantastic. Very nice one,” he said, according to WUSA 9. He also had kind words for the community that bought him his new wheels. “So I would say thanks to [the students behind the GoFundMe] and especially the parents involved. Also, may God bless them.”

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A woman's scary story of harassment got an infuriating reaction from men

Still, she came away from the viral experience encouraged by all the good people out there.

Photo by Molly Blackbird on Unsplash

With one simple tweet, Nathalie Gordon had the attention of men and women everywhere.

Women who saw her tweet probably knew more or less what kind of story was coming.

Men, on the other hand, were in for an eye-opening ride.

Gordon began by recounting a seemingly casual encounter with a man on a bus.

The conversation between Nathalie and the stranger quickly escalated from casual to obnoxious to downright scary.

"I'm horrified and turn to ask him to stop doing it. He laughs at me," she tweeted next.

When she ran to the front of the bus to report the man to the driver, the driver reportedly told her to "sit somewhere else."

The bus driver was no help.

"You're a pretty girl, what do you expect?" the driver asked her. Gordon had a pretty powerful answer to that.

As Gordon's tweets went viral, similar stories from countless other women poured in.

Several women responded about their own run-ins with creeps on public transit.

One woman wrote that, in her case, it was the bus driver himself who wouldn't take "no" for an answer, actually following her off the bus one day and insisting on a date.

"The stories I'm being told [from women] are harrowing," Gordon explained over Twitter direct message. "There's a real sense of hopeless when you see these messages en masse."

Then men began responding to Gordon's story, many unthinkingly proving her exact point: They just didn't get it.

Quickly, the Not All Men brigade was out in full force. So were the Victim Blamers, and the This Never Happened gang.

Some of their responses were truly vile.

One man even responded by writing a lengthy screed from the perspective of Gordon's bus driver, in which he tried to explain that the bus driver's right to say "no" to helping a female passenger avoid being sexually harassed or assaulted is what equality really looks like because the bus driver shouldn't have to "fight her battles for her."

To them, Gordon has one simple answer: "Men, your input isn't necessary here. Just listen."

"Don't find fault or shout your opinion over people talking about actual experiences," she later wrote. "Just listen, read these stories and be a better, kinder, more informed, supportive and understanding man for the women in your lives."

Despite the critics and the doubters, Gordon says she came away from the discussion feeling encouraged.

"For every guy saying something cruel there's 10 rushing to my defence," she explains.

"They've recognised that women don't want, need or expect to be saved. We want people standing beside us going 'This is wrong, we need to find a way to stop this from happening.'"

"I know so many good men and this has confirmed that there are plenty more out there," Gordon says. "I just hope they are as vocal in real life as they are on Twitter because they have such power if they do."


This article originally appeared on 5.11.17

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