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The lion was asleep when the mouse ran across its nose. The lion woke up and began to attack the mouse.

"If you spare me, one day I will repay you," said the mouse. Days later, the lion got caught in the hunter's net. The mouse appeared, and chewed through the rope to let him free.

The message behind this story is that when you are kind, you will be rewarded. But now a professorOne of the highest ranks of teachers at a university. called Alena Papayanis thinks that nowadays, our focus on being nice is stopping us from being kind.

There is a difference, some say, between being nice and being kind. When you are nice, you might try to make someone feel good now so they think well of you. But when you are kind, you try to make sure that they are happy in the long term.

In short, niceness can sometimes be just on the surface, but kindness shows that you really care.

Most of us think that we are nice people. In fact, 98% of British people think of themselves as nicer than most. But how many of us are kind?

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Researchers say acts of kindness make us happier. People who are kind every day can be less worried and sad than others.

It is not always a good thing to be too nice to people, they say. It is better to be honest about you feel, and think about how others will feel in the future, not just now.

Is it better to be kind?

Yes! Niceness can be just about making yourself look good to other people. If you are kind, you truly care about them.

No! We can be nice and kind at the same time. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make other people feel good.