His message of kindness is the one he most wants people to take to heart. “The world is a difficult place, because people often don’t like each other,” he says. “They hurt each other. There are wars. If everybody was more kind, the world would be better. Wouldn’t it?” Children can help teach kindness by being role models. “Be kind and don’t ever, ever, ever lose that kindness,” he says. “Be understanding of others. Most of all, be kind to yourself, always. Then you will find it easier to be kind to others. That is the best way to teach kindness.” What should a child who is kind do if others are mean to him or her? Walk away, Dr. Gottlieb says. And make sure someone else knows that you are being hurt. Dr. Gottlieb stresses that you should never “let somebody who is unkind to you turn you into somebody who is mean.” Dr. Gottlieb realized that he had a passion for psychology even before he knew what the sub- ject was. He was about 10. He says he was not good at sports or schoolwork, but he was a good listener. He was interested in his friends’ lives and what made them unique. When he was in seventh grade, he decided he would study psychology. “My goodness, I thought, I could do this for a living—just talk to people, get to know about Dan Gottlieb Working to make the world kinder Dr. Dan Gottlieb has an unusual job title on his business card. It simply says “Gottlieb, Human.” He could have had the card say that he is a psychologist, a radio talk show host, and the author of a half-dozen books. All of those descriptions are true, but he has chosen to tell people that he sees himself first as a human being. Dr. Gottlieb is known widely in the Philadelphia area because of his books and his radio program, “Voices in the Family,” which is broadcast on WHYY-FM. He invites other mental health experts to be on his show and discuss ways people can cope with problems they face in their daily lives. Radio listeners call in to ask questions and share their experiences. On any given day, he says, he can’t know for sure that he is helping anyone. “I hope I am,” he says. “When I am on the radio, if there are 5,000 people listening to me, if one of them is helped, if one of them ... feels a little more kind, and they are more kind to their family and themselves, then I am happy.” 20