There are few judgments made less true by being made less harsh.
From Leaving No Stone Unthrown, one of 296 sayings written by John Sarris over thirty years.
From Alfred’s journal
A man on the bench by the hardware store told his friend that his brother was not lazy, only unlucky in his circumstances, and said it three times in different words until the friend agreed. I watched the pigeons work the crumbs around their feet the whole while. For a long time I thought softening a thing was a kind of mercy, and I spent years sanding my own sentences down until they rolled off without catching. There are few judgments made less true by being made less harsh. The brother is whatever he is, and no one on that bench had been near him in a year. What stays with me is how relieved the friend looked when he gave in.
He reads what you tell him and writes a page of his journal back, with a few of these chosen for you. It costs nothing and asks for nothing.
