The doing of good deeds is important. As a free person, you can choose to live your life as a good person or as a bad person. To be a good person, do good deeds. To be a bad person, do bad deeds. If you do good deeds, you will become good. If you do bad deeds, you will become bad. To become the person you want to be, act as if you already are that kind of person. Each of us chooses what kind of person we will become. To become a hero, do the things a hero does. To become a coward, do the things a coward does. The opportunity to take action to become the kind of person you want to be is yours.

This book is a collection of stories of good deeds. Most of them I have encountered in my reading of books, then retold in my own words. A very few come from other sources. This book is organized by topic. Many people in the arts, in religion, and in everyday life have done good deeds, and I am happy that such people exist in this world.

I hope that you enjoy reading this book, and I hope that you are inspired to do some good deeds of your own.

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"I Have Been Waiting My Whole Life to Pay Taxes"

Lewis Black is a comedian whose sense of social justice propels his comedy. A lot of his concern with ethical behavior comes from his Jewish parents and his grandfather, all of whom condemned Joseph McCarthy during his fight against free speech in the 1950s. During the Vietnam War, his father was so disgusted by the actions of the United States government that he told Lewis, "If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have stayed in Russia." Mr. Black became very successful as a stand-up comedian and in the "Back in Black" segments on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. When he started making real money, his accountant told him things he could do to pay less in taxes. Mr. Black's response was this: "I have been waiting my whole life to pay taxes. This is how it's supposed to work. This is how we are able to fund the things that make this country work--like roads and schools."

"How Come It Doesn't Cost Anything?"

Some people showed kindness to comedian Eddie Cantor when he was growing up. As a kid, he went to Surprise Lake Camp, a summer camp for slum kids, where one night he suddenly wondered, "How come we're here? How come it doesn't cost anything?" Another kid had the answer: "Oh, because somebody's interested in us kids." Later Mr. Cantor returned the kindness by raising many millions of dollars for charities, including a camp for underprivileged children such as he had been.