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This file includes Kindness, Manners, and Gossip and Rumors.
Also see Gratitude, Acceptance, Anger, Forgiveness, and songs about Kindness and Giving.

Kindness

Quotes

Judge Softly

(Mary T. Lathrap)

Pray, don't find fault with the man who limps
Or stumbles along the road
Unless you have worn the shoes that hurt
Or struggled beneath his load
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
Though hidden away from view
Or the burden he bears, placed on your back,
Might cause you to stumble, too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today
Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall, or felt the same
That only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
That were his, if dealt to you
In the self same way at the self same time,
Might cause you to stagger, too.

Don't be too harsh with the man who sins
Or pelt him with words or stones,
Unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,
That you have no sins of your own.
For you know perhaps, if the tempters voice
Should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him when he went astray,
'Twould cause you to falter, too.

(This poem, written on a worn piece of paper in very faded ink, was among my grandmothers things when she died. I later learned it was written in 1895. I don't know where my grandmother got the poem but it exemplified the way she lived. Denny)

The Bridge Builder

(Will Allen Dromgoole)

An old man, going down a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim--
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him. "

Caring People Make a Difference

(good to put in a thank you card)

Thanks so much for your
compassionate ways.
You inspire us all
and brighten our days!

The Art of Giving

We give of ourselves when
we give gifts of the heart:
Love, kindness, joy, understanding,
sympathy, tolerance, forgiveness.

We give of ourselves when
we give gifts of the mind:
ideas, dreams, purposes, ideals,
principles, plans, inventions, projects, poetry.

We give of ourselves when
we give gifts of the spirit:
prayer, vision, beauty, aspiration,
peace, faith.

We give of ourselves when
we give the gift of words:
encouragement, inspiration, guidance

The Sad Truth

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

There's one sad truth in life I've found
While journeying east and west--
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.

We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.

Unless

Unless we can hear
each other singing and crying,
unless we can comfort
each other's failures
and cheer each other's victories,
we are missing out on the best
that life has to offer.
The only real action takes place
on the bridge between people.

So Many

(Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.

Be Special to Others

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit.
When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.
The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.
When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?"
The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
This story teaches two lessons:
1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path.

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Manners

Table Manners

(Gelett Burgess)

The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives;
They spill their broth on the table-cloth;
Oh, they live untidy lives.

The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew,
So that is why I am glad that I
Am not a Goop. Are you?

Quotes

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Gossip and Rumors

Quotes

from Be Careful of Stones That You Throw

(Dion and the Belmonts)

A tongue can accuse and carry bad news.
Gossip is cheap and it's low.
So unless you've made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw.

Gossip

(Edward Wallis Hoch )

There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us.

Songs about Gossip and Rumors

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