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What makes someone a good person? It's tough to say because there are many types of people in the world, and no two people are exactly alike. There is not one set of characteristics that all "good" people have, and the absence of one of these characteristics does not make a person "bad." However, we all have our own idea for which traits a person should possess, and there are some that most of us can agree on. To start, you should think of the best person you know (other than yourself, if you're a narcissist), and think of the traits he or she possesses. Although I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, I definitely have an idea of what the ideal good person is.

A good person is loyal to his or her friends. I strongly believe in upholding love and friendship above everything else, so a person who is good must be loyal to his or her friends and loved ones. This means that a person shouldn't tell secrets about friends behind their backs, skip out on time that could be spent with loved ones to go hang out with the "cool" crowd, or let his or her friends down in a situation that could easily be solved by simple participation. A good person puts the people that he or she cares about before everything else in life; after all, life isn't worth living without companions, so that should be everyone's first priority.

A good person is honest whenever possible. Honest people can be trusted, and trustworthy people are really better than people that cannot be trusted. This includes being honest with a significant other, your friends, your family, your teachers, and the police. See, when you tell a lie, you usually end up having to cover for the lie by telling more lies; the more you lie to people, the less they trust you, and if people cannot trust you, then you will end up alone. However, good, honest people don't need to worry about this because people know that they will always tell the truth. I know that I want people to tell me the truth so I don't think they're hiding anything from me, so it's usually best to tell the truth.

When I think of a good person, I think of some of my closest friends; however, they are all pretty different, yet they still manage to exhibit the characteristics that I look for in people. For example, one of my closest friends always manages to cheer me up. It's uncanny: whenever I talk to her, she manages to put just the right tone in her words to make a smile appear on my face. Good people want others to be happy, so they work to make them

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