How they do it:
“The world has become smaller,” some will say. “People have become cruel,” others will confirm. And only a third will object: “Russia is not without good people.” WITH last expression One cannot but agree after reading the stories of these five individuals.
Fedor Mikhailovich Rtishchev
During his lifetime, nobleman Fyodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev received the nickname “gracious husband,” and his name was recorded in the synodics (memorials) of countless monasteries and churches in gratitude for his activities and financial investments.
Fyodor Rtishchev was a friend and ally of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. During his life, he built many schools, shelters for the poor, hospitals, and became the founder of St. Andrew's Monastery. This man, seeing a drunk lying on the pavement, could easily pick him up and take him to a shelter. During the Russian-Polish War, Rtishchev achieved success in peace negotiations with representatives of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the battles, Fyodor Mikhailovich carried both his own and the enemy from the battlefield. He hired doctors with his own money and bought food for the wounded and prisoners.
F. M. Rtishchev at the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia” in Veliky Novgorod.
Most of all, his contemporaries remembered the incident when in 1671, during a severe famine in Vologda, Rtishchev sent there 200 measures of bread, 100 gold and 900 silver rubles. These donations were proceeds from the sale of part of the nobleman's property. When Fyodor Mikhailovich found out that the residents of Arzamas were in desperate need of land, he simply donated his possessions to the city. When Rtishchev died, his “life” appeared in monasteries. This was practically the only case when the righteous life was described, not of a monk, but of a layman.
Anna Adler
Anna Aleksandrovna Adler devoted her entire life to helping children with disabilities. In the 19th century, the activities of charitable foundations were mainly aimed at satisfying only the physical needs of disabled people for food and shelter. They were deprived of the opportunity to realize themselves in society.
Anna Adler herself was involved in educating the blind in order to prove to others that they could study and earn their living just like everyone else. This woman mastered the Braille system, found funds to purchase a printing press in Germany and began creating teaching aids for the blind. In addition to teaching literacy, in schools for the blind, under the patronage of Anna Adler, boys were taught to weave baskets and rugs, and girls were taught to knit and sew. Over time, Anna Alexandrovna translated the notes into a form understandable for the blind, so that they could learn to play musical instruments. The first graduates of the school for the blind in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the active assistance of Anna Adler, were able to find work. This woman managed to break the established stereotypes about the incapacity of the blind.
Nikolay Pirogov
Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov became famous as a brilliant surgeon, naturalist, and teacher. Already at the age of 26 he was appointed professor at the University of Dorpat. Pirogov devoted his entire life to saving people. The soldiers called him a wizard who performed miracles right on the battlefield.
Nikolai Ivanovich was the first to distribute the wounded on the battlefield, immediately deciding who would be sent to the hospital first and who would get off lightly. This practice has made it possible to significantly reduce the amputation of limbs and the mortality rate of soldiers. During operations, Pirogov was the first in Russia to use anesthesia, thereby relieving the wounded of excruciating pain.
In addition to performing his direct duties, Nikolai Pirogov carefully ensured that warm blankets and food were delivered to the soldiers. When after graduation Crimean War Nikolai Ivanovich had an audience with Emperor Alexander II, and in his hearts he began to talk about backwardness Russian army and its weapons. After this conversation, Pirogov was sent from the capital to serve in Odessa, which can be regarded as a manifestation of the sovereign’s disfavor.
Pirogov did not despair and directed all his energy to pedagogical activity. The scientist zealously opposed class education and the use of corporal punishment. “Being human is what education should lead to,” this is exactly what Pirogov believed. Unfortunately, Pirogov met with decisive rebuff from officials. All students spoke of him as a brilliant teacher who cared not only about their education, but about instilling high moral qualities.
Sergey Skirmunt
In the second half of the 19th century there lived a certain Sergei Apollonovich Skirmunt. He was serving as an army second lieutenant when a fortune fell on him. From a deceased distant relative, the 30-year-old officer received 2.5 million rubles, land and farmsteads. But, unlike many people who suddenly became rich, Skirmunt did not go to great lengths.
He donated part of the money to charity. On his Crimean estate, the newly-minted landowner decided to improve the living conditions of the peasants. New houses were built to replace the dilapidated shacks. A hospital and a school also appeared there. Needless to say, the residents of the estate prayed daily for the health of the landowner.
Vladimir Odoevsky
The noble origin of the writer and philosopher Vladimir Odoevsky did not prevent him from showing sincere participation in the destinies of people of the lower classes. The prince actively advocated the abolition of serfdom.
Odoevsky organized the Society for Visiting the Poor, which provided assistance to 15 thousand poor families. Those in need or the elderly could go to the community and receive medical care there. Prince Odoevsky was called a “strange scientist” whose main quality was virtue.
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You may have already known about someone’s kindness, and someone may open up to you from a completely new side:
Keanu Reeves
IN last years What came to light was that Reeves doesn't care much about money. In fact, he went so far as to give $80 million of his Matrix royalties to the special effects team and costume designers who worked on the trilogy. He explained his action by saying that he believes that the success of the film series is due to these people, and not to him.
Dean Kootz 
A fan wrote to Koontz about how his friend didn't like Koontz's work and asked for a postcard that would essentially send his friend to hell in a spiteful manner. Instead, he received a witty card for his friend.
Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry has touched not just one life, but countless others with his openness about his mental health struggles. Although many see such problems as a stigma that harms their careers, Fry speaks openly about his problems and became president charitable organization mental health Reason, which raises public awareness of mental illness and is a voice for those who suffer from it.
Russell Brand
Brand talked about how he knows what it's like to be at the bottom of his life as a former alcoholic and heroin addict, which is why he spends time with homeless people in his area. He has been photographed and spotted countless times with homeless people - taking them to breakfast and helping them in every possible way.
Will.i.am
Will.i.am recently donated his entire salary from The Voice (around $750,000) to The Prince's Foundation, a charity dedicated to providing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education to disadvantaged children in the UK. He hopes for the same success that this program has had in his hometown, Los Angeles County, which is now open modern center STEM.
Woody Harrelson
While attending a great party in New York, Woody was approached by a homeless woman looking for alms. Instead of turning her down, Woody decided to give the woman $600. According to the Daily News, when the woman recognized the actor, she said, “Thanks Woody! White people can still jump!”
John Cena 
This athlete has fulfilled the most wishes for the Make Your Dream charity foundation - he has 400 wishes (100 of which were fulfilled from June 2013 to February 2014).
Ryan Gosling
A British journalist was rescued by an actor when she almost walked onto the road in front of a taxi in New York. She tweeted about the incident, saying she was looking the other way as a lifelong Londoner when Gosling grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the pavement.
Mila Kunis
When a man who worked in her house collapsed on the floor from an attack, Mila came to his aid. After she supported him until the ambulance arrived, Mila even offered to go with him to the hospital to make sure he was safe.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga is known for the fact that she uses her popularity to promote self-belief, despite how different we are from others. After she heard that one of her fans committed suicide because he was mocked about his sexual orientation, she dedicated her concert to him and his photo was on the screens everywhere - it was an act that expressed unity with the fan and other people from all over the world suffering in similar situations.
T.I.
This rapper gave up everything to convince a man not to commit suicide. The police tried to reason with the man to come down from the parapet. He considered it necessary to help, telling the man that everything would be fine and that not everything in the world was as bad as it seemed.
Angelina Jolie 
Jolie remains a great philanthropist even after years of success and incredible popularity. She even decided as her directorial debut make In the Land of Blood and Honey, a film that tells the story of women who were subjected to mass rape during the Bosnian war. This choice was clearly not made with the aim of becoming famous, since it was filmed and written in Bosnian.
Zoe Saldana
After witnessing a car accident in Culver City, California, Zoe came to the aid of an elderly woman involved in the collision. Eyewitnesses said Saldana immediately called 911 and, while talking with a service representative, helped the injured woman out of the car, and even while they waited ambulance, made sure the woman was given a bag from the car.
Zach Galifinakis
Zach saved a homeless woman. Mimi, a woman Zach knew from the local laundromat long before he became famous, found herself on the street. As soon as Zach found out about this, he offered to pay the apartment rent for her. He even took her with him to the premiere of the film Bachelor Party: Part III.
Patrick Dempsey
According to TMZ, the teenager lost control of his Mustang, and after the car flipped several times, it finally stopped in front of the actor's house. Dempsey ran outside to help the young driver and used a crowbar to free the teenager from the car, after which he called emergency services.
Johnny Depp
After 9-year-old Beatrice asked Depp to help her rebel against teachers, the actor came to a London school for precisely this purpose.
Tyler Perry
After hearing that a woman suffering from cerebral palsy had her customized 2000 Chrysler Town & Country stolen from her home in Georgia, director Perry offered to give her another van.
Gary Sinese
Since playing the role of Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, Sinise has been committed to helping disabled veterans and their families. He recently took 50 war-wounded soldiers on an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland in California.
Tom Cruise
One day, while he was relaxing on his yacht, Cruise saw a sinking, burning sailboat. Instead of waiting for someone to save them, Tom himself swam to the sailboat and helped the victims escape.
It is unlikely that anyone will argue that faith, hope and love are the basis of human life. Even the most hardened and degraded criminal has at least one of these feelings alive somewhere in the depths of his soul: hope. For forgiveness, for better life, for pardon, for reconciliation with oneself and God. And there, you see, it’s not far from faith and love.
Sofia is a special matter. Wisdom is not easy to come by, and not everyone needs it; many find it much easier without this burdensome phenomenon. However, in the history of real women, martyrs of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, this connection cannot be broken; these saints are always together.
Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. Icon from Vatopedi Monastery
Their life is a story that is accepted with incredible difficulty by consciousness. And the point is not at all that our time is somehow overvalued human life? or is too skeptical about such a phenomenon as the Christian faith, or puts more material than spiritual values at the forefront. No, the description of such a short, but such a bright life of three holy girls chills the blood precisely with this combination: a life that is short in duration and bright in content. Only now the content was martyrdom, with the sophisticated imagination of the torturers and the immeasurable, inconceivable human understanding and courage of the mother...
In the 2nd century AD, from 117 to 138, Emperor Hadrian ruled Rome, known not only for his state services, but also for the fact that his lover was the young man Antinous, who drowned in the Nile River and was not only deified by Hadrian, but became the last god of the departing ancient pantheon. It was to this emperor that a denunciation arrived from the Italian governor Antiochus that the pious widow Sophia from Milan professed Christian faith and raises his three daughters according to Christian commandments. The emperor was angry and summoned the family to Rome, making little secret of the final purpose of their journey.
Mother and daughters arrived at their destination - and all three girls, despite the fact that the youngest of them, Lyubov, was only 9 years old, and the eldest, Vera, had reached the age of 12, understood perfectly well where they had arrived and what awaited them . At first, Emperor Hadrian was quite kind and simply invited the arriving family to bow and pay homage to the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, dear to his heart. After a decisive refusal on the part of Sophia and her daughters, he offered rich gifts in exchange for this worship, but this did not bring success - however, it must be said, the emperor did not particularly count on consent. An attempt was made to separate the children from the mother and her influence - Faith, Hope and Love, on the orders of Adrian, were sent to a noble and famous pagan woman, who tried to persuade the girls to renounce Christ, either by persuasion, or caresses, or threats, or even religious disputes . Everything was unsuccessful: the young women firmly stood their ground, their faith was deep and sincere and did not depend on whether their mother was next to them or not.
The pagan woman lowered her hands, and the girls again appeared before Adrian. Threats were used, but Faith, Hope and Love were adamant in their faith. Realizing that words could achieve nothing, the emperor gave the order that the three girls be brutally tortured in front of their mother. They were burned on a hot grate, lowered into a vat of boiling resin, thrown into a fiery furnace, but all was in vain: the holy girls remained firm in their faith, and the Lord helped them to remain steadfast and miraculously preserved them from death. The perverted fantasy of the torturers extended far - for example, the youngest of the sisters, 9-year-old Lyubov, was tied to a wheel and beaten with sticks until her body became one continuous bloody wound. The mother was forced to watch her daughters suffer, but from her lips only words of support and praise to the Lord were heard. Before Sophia’s eyes, the torturers, tired of their fruitless efforts, beheaded the young women, but the mother’s spiritual joy was incomparable: she understood that her daughters had been awarded the crown of martyrdom and the Kingdom of God.
Emperor Hadrian understood perfectly well that a mother’s heart still suffers, even with the strongest heavenly joy. To prolong the torment of the persistent woman, he ordered his servants to give her the bodies of her daughters, so that she herself would take care of their burial. Suffering Sophia plunged her dead girls into the ark and went with her mournful burden outside the city, where she buried the holy bodies on a hill. After that, she spent two days next to their graves, grieving, rejoicing and praying to the Lord. On the third day He accepted her soul too.
The Church canonized the martyred girls as saints, glorifying their suffering mother along with them on the same day. Since 777, the relics of all four have been kept in the Alsatian church of Escho.
Modern realities change too much in the value system. Signs of the times are very ardent feminism and, most often, unreasonable juvenile justice - something that has no place in this terrible, sometimes cruel, but happy for every understanding Christian history of faith, hope and love - that is, wisdom.
The most terrible, the most godless time did not abandon these three virtues. Yes, faith in God could be replaced by faith in the ruler, love could be given some macabre colors at times, and hope could be placed on a pedestal of such heights that it seemed to replace the two previous feelings. But even the most perverted consciousness understands that faith, hope and love are integral aspirations, needs and abilities of a person - and it is not even so important whether he believes in the presence of a soul or only in the triumph of reason. After all, these are the main virtues. 
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Some people, despite their wealth and position, remember that they are no better than others and try to be modest, take care of their neighbors and do good deeds in imitation of the Lord.
We would like to tell you about ten such people - worthy examples for each of us, especially for many powerful Russians.
The actions of these people amaze and inspire respect. Having achieved a lot in life, they did not become slaves to their wealth and position and treat other people with gratitude:
1. Bishop Longinus (Heat)
This hierarch (photo in the title) proved with his life that the image of the bishop circulated in the media as a arrogant fat man in an expensive car, neglecting the flock entrusted to him by God, does not correspond to the truth.
While still a priest, the bishop rebuilt the Holy Ascension monastery in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine and under him founded a church boarding school for more than 1000 orphans and disabled children, more than 400 of whom he adopted.
In addition to his pastoral responsibilities for the revival of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, Bishop Longin has been involved in the upbringing of children taken into his care for many years.
In recent years, he also actively opposed the beginning and then the continuation of the Kyiv Nazi regime. civil war in the South-East of Ukraine. And this despite regular threats against him from dissenters and neo-Nazis.
His life and work are well described in the film “Outpost,” known to almost all Orthodox Christians in the CIS.
2. Vladislav Tetyukhin
Ural tycoon, engaged in titanium mining as a co-owner of a large metallurgical company.
At 80, he did not buy a villa in warm countries. Instead, Vladislav Tetyukhin sold all his shares and used the proceeds of 3.3 billion rubles to build a medical center for his fellow countrymen in Nizhny Tagil.
In the future, the billionaire plans to build a hotel, new houses for clinic employees with 350 apartments, a dormitory for students, a transport block and a helipad.
Now Tetyukhin holds a post here general director and at 82 years old, he comes to work strictly on schedule: by 9:00 am 6 days a week.
3. Swedish Princess Madeleine
The princess of the Swedish royal house does not boast about her position.
At royal receptions, Princess Madeleine appears in $130 dresses bought at Stockholm markets and is not shy about picking up her dog's poop while walking.
It is worth noting that this behavior is typical of many representatives of the royal houses of Europe and its financial and managerial elite. Wild kitsch is left to the nouveau riche.
4. Brian Bernie
Bernie can be called the British construction oligarch.
Everything was going great for this millionaire until his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Then Bernie became involved in charity work.
He donated a significant part of his fortune to create a whole convoy of medical machines. These machines traveled through small villages in northern England and provided high-tech medical care to patients. Brian Bernie paid the doctors' salaries out of his own pocket.
WITH God's help his wife recovered. To celebrate, Brian Bernie sold most property and donated the money to charity.
Now he lives on a small pension in a small apartment and drives a used car.
5. President of Uruguay
Jose Cordano is the President of Uruguay, but local residents his name is El Pepe. He donates 9/10ths of his presidential salary to charity, making him the poorest (or most generous) president in the world.
Jose earns 263,000 Uruguayan pesos (400,000 rubles) a month, and leaves only 26,300 pesos (40,000 rubles) for himself.
He lives in rural house on a farm, with no debt and no bank account. José brings water for the household himself from a well in the yard. The largest purchase of his entire life was a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
6. Boris Johnson
Boris is Mayor of London. He rides a bicycle to work, does not hesitate to go without a tie, and freely wears a sports jacket, backpack and bicycle helmet.
The official is one of the main and most consistent supporters of the development of cycling in the UK and advocates healthy image life.
7. Olaf Thon
The Norwegian billionaire lives quite modestly. He is married, but has no children. Therefore, he decided to donate all his wealth, calmly parting with $6,000,000,000: “I have a bike and skis, and I don’t eat much. So I think everything will be fine."
Olaf Thon decided to spend all his money on financing medical research so that it would benefit people, saying: “Anyway, I won’t be able to take it with me.”
Michael Bloomberg once served as mayor of New York (USA).
He is very interesting person, even if you don't know that he is the 13th richest person in the world.
At the same time, the businessman does not stop riding the subway. And at his workplace he works in an ascetic environment: in an ordinary office furniture traditional monitors, papers, charts, some trinkets and... a jar of peanut butter next to the keyboard.
9. Chuck Feeney
The founder of the famous Duty Free chain of stores, Chuck Feeney, lives very modestly.
Over the past 30 years, he has traveled all over the world, carefully getting rid of his acquired capital of $7.5 billion. Feeney spent his business income on charity.
His charitable foundation The Atlantic Philanthropies has invested $6.2 billion in education, science, health care and nursing homes around the world. By 2020, Chuck Feeney wants to spend all his capital on helping those in need.
10. Sergey Brin
Sergey is a legend computer business, co-founder and president of technology at Google.
A billionaire and one of the richest people in America, Sergei keeps a fairly modest lifestyle - he lives in a three-room apartment in San Francisco and drives a used Toyota Prius with an environmentally friendly hybrid engine.
His hobby is visiting Katya's Russian Tea Room in San Francisco and recommending borscht, pancakes and dumplings to guests of the establishment.
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True stories from the lives of people with different destinies, lives and worldviews, but united by one big heart.
1. Dima is a teenager, no different from other guys like him. Nothing but kindness and sensitivity to absolutely to strangers. One day he needed to visit the military registration and enlistment office. He didn’t have money for the bus, so he had to walk. It was in February. Having walked quite a bit from the house, from afar he saw a woman lying in the snow. At first Dima thought that she was drunk, but when he approached her, he saw an elderly woman. Although there were many passers-by on the street, no one except Dima paid attention to her. The teenager came up and slowly picked her up. She said she was walking to church when she slipped and fell. Dima brought the woman home, although he had to deviate from the given route by two stops. As a token of gratitude, she tried to give the guy money for travel. But Dima refused - that’s not why he helped her.
2. Love for animals can be limitless. Steve Craig, an accountant from Denver, knows this firsthand. A month after the death of his beloved dog, he began to feel depressed. Then Steve decided to take old, sick dogs from the shelter, who are unlikely to attract anyone's attention and whose fate, alas, is predictable. First, he adopted a twelve-year-old Chihuahua with a heart murmur and painful joints. Now he has 10 elderly dogs living at home. “I’m very happy that I was able to make these animals happy,” says Steve.
3. It’s no secret what exotic food they eat in South Korea. At their meat market you can find any animal, including dogs. Two-year-old dog Chi-Chi, hanging upside down in a dark room, was constantly beaten to make her meat more tender. However, for unknown reasons, it did not become another delicacy on someone’s table. She was simply left to die in a garbage bag. Fortunately, Chi-Chi was saved, but all of her legs had to be amputated. And after two months at the veterinary clinic, the dog found a family in Phoenix, Arizona.
4. Dreams tend to come true. It also came true for twelve-year-old Emily Tammen, who suffers from autism, attention deficit disorder and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The girl's joints suffer due to this disease. Emily came to the concert of her favorite singer Adele with a poster “My dream is to sing with Adele.” The singer noticed this ad and invited the girl to the stage, offering to perform the hit “Someone Like You.”
5. You don't need to be a superhero to save lives. At one of the baseball games, player Andrew McCutchen from the Pirates team slipped his bat. It flew straight into the boy's forehead. An unknown “superhero” wearing glasses deflected the blow of the bat by putting up his hand. Having flown around the boy's head, the bat still hit him on the back of the head. But this was not at all the blow that the unfortunate guy could have received.
6. Friendship between a penguin and a human is possible. In 2001, a pensioner saved a tiny penguin. He lay dying on the rocks, covered in oil. The man picked up the poor animal, cleaned its feathers of oil and fed it fish every day until the penguin gained strength. This was the beginning of their long and strong friendship.
7. There are also firefighters among dogs. Burnt puppy Jake, rescued from a fire by Bill Linder, became a firefighter. Baby Jake was just a few weeks old when he found himself in a burning barn. He received burns on 75% of his body, which forced his owners to abandon him. Then Bill's family decided to take him for themselves. Now Jake teaches lessons with his owner fire safety in schools.
8. “You can’t see the most important things with your eyes,” said Exupery. Mr. Kuroki, a Japanese dairy farmer, spent two years trying to lift his blind wife out of depression. Having planted a giant flower bed, he pulled her outside, thereby making her smile.
9. Sometimes even a fire can end a wedding. A firefighter rescued a girl from a burning house. Unfortunately, he suffered a leg injury; doctors said that the man would no longer be able to walk normally. But 28 years later, he walked their daughter down the aisle.
10. “Five years ago I adopted a dog from a shelter that was about to be euthanized. Now this dog saves my life every day. I suffer from a neurological condition that causes seizures. My dog knows in advance about the next attack and warns me about it.”
Maria Ryzhova
Photo: avivas.ru, dailymail.co.uk, mediaLeaks.ru, blognews.am, 4tololo.ru
