Tuesday, June 6, 2017

A Little Kinder


Before he died, Aldous Huxley (the author of Brave New World) was quoted as saying, "It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'Try to be a little kinder.'"

Great advice, and I try to follow it when I think about it. But I don't think about it as often as I'd like.

It'd be nice to remember to be a little kinder to the grocery clerk, for instance. Or to the woman behind the counter at the post office. Or to the knot of teenagers taking over the sidewalk as if they'd bought it with their own money.

Try to be a little kinder.

One of my good friends (I'll call him Steve) told me years ago that his father always tried to leave people happier than they were before they encountered him. I like that. It makes me wonder what the planet would be like if we all did that.



2 comments:

S0phia Inkpen said...

I look at the name of their badges at the counter, and try to thank them using their names, and catching their eyes. It's my way of acknowledging they are alive and I see them.

HK Stewart said...

S0phia:

YOU, my dear, are gift to your neighborhood.

H. K.