Is there a difference between nice people and good people?

In other words is the polite person that avoids conflicts and does all the little social niceties a good person? Are the distinct? In other words can you have nice people that are selfish and can't be counted on? Is it possible to have a rude person that is a good person that is helps others and can be counted on when the chips are down? So are the concepts separate and distinct or are they too interrelated to separate? Is there even a difference?

Nice ain't always good, and good ain't always nice. Sometimes they can be one and the same, but don't mistake one for the other.

My ex sister-in-law is a perfect example. She's a complete bitch (:P ), BUT.....when push came to shove, guess who was the first one to offer help? Yup.

My mom is a hose-beast most of the time, but she'd give the shirt off her back to help a person in need, and grumble and harrumph if someone tried to thank her for it.

Lots of nice people aren't good people, and lots of good people aren't nice.

Although I know one who is both.

There can be a huge difference between character and personality. Nice and good don't always coincide.

but I think it is easier to be good and not nice than it is to be nice and not good.

difficult people, with hearts of gold and very nice people, who always managed to look out for number one (well ahead of all others).

I just meant that if you are a genuinely nice person, then many of the choices you make would also make you a good person, according to what I understand to be the commonly held definitions of both of these terms, of course.

:shrug:

So, yes, there is a difference...

But that's the New York influence on me......

He was a really popular clown who did all sorts of charity appearances.



When, that is, he wasn't kidnapping, raping and torturing young boys, murdering them, and stashing their bodies in concrete in his basement.

but I'm a good person. There's a difference.

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

For example, I consider myself to be a good person because I try to do the right thing by people. I, however, won't go so far to say I'm a nice person. Affable? Sure. Sociable? Certainly. Nice. Not on a bet. I can be SO rude.

Being a good person includes being nice, but nice can take many forms. Being nice, unless done so authentically and honestly is fake - and therefore... not nice. Being nice for the sole purpose of receiving some personal benefit - is not nice. It's more of a manipulative act, and in that it is false, is actually more hurtful (in my opinion) to the one who this person is supposedly being "nice" to.

The first thing I thought of when I considered "nice" was good manners. Lots of bad people have lovely manners, when necessary.

But "good" to me implies doing the right, ethical, caring, fair thing - and that can include being nice but doesn't have to. Good people can be rude sometimes or make mistakes. Good doesn't equate perfect. To me it means compassion and caring for others based on the fact that they're human, not based on what they can do for you or offer you.

A nurse who is dealing with a mean, sick criminal - can be a good person without being "nice", which would be counterproductive and dangerous. A parent can be good without being "nice" if that means giving in and spoiling their children, which is far from nice - it hurts them.

So, no. They are not the same at all, and while one (good) is the basis of its expression and will often include the other (nice), it is not reciprocal. Nice can exist without good, but good creates nice - in it's truest form because it is based on goodness and therefore can take many forms (some that might not "seem" nice).

Haven't really thought this through because I'm running late so I hope I didn't confuse you more. : )

A friend helps you move
A good friend helps you move a body
A friend for life is one you help to move a body

to compare notes they couldn't believe what I was describing. His nice was just an act. His girlfriend backed up that he was weird and nasty. But that didn't help me in the end. People thought I was crazy. This is someone (the stalker) who sat under the human rights monument in our city and played his guitar for murdered women...while he was in the middle of puppeteering me, bullying, playacting with me. Not nice. Though many people would say he was. Not nice and not good. Nice and good are not the same things. Nice can be faked. And that is not good.