These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust

Among the heart-strings of a friend.

The ill-timed truth we might have kept -

Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?

The word we had not sense to say -

Who knows how grandly it had rung?

We habitually think that because of who we are that we can criticize, that we can hurt others. And we frequently think that we have no need to show a simple act of kindness when the opportunity presents itself. At times we think that we are above such an act. But this is never the case.

Think about the nicest thing someone ever said to you. How did that make you feel? Now think about the cruelest thing someone ever said to you. How did that make you feel? My point here is obvious. Nice things make us feel good. And cruel things make us feel terrible.

When we have the impulse to be cruel, we should stay silent. When we have the opportunity to be kind, we should take advantage of that instance. Sometimes the opportunity to be kind occurs at the same moment as the opportunity to be cruel, and what we do with that moment does matter.

As we graduate tonight, it is important that we part with kindness, but more significantly, it is important that we take this kindness into the rest of our lives, because with one seemingly insignificant gesture, we can change a person’s life. For better, or for worse.