[E. M. Forster, in the Listener, London, England]

Tolerance is my first little message. My second springs out of it. It's about faultfinding. I think that in private life faultfinding is generally a mistake. I draw a very sharp line here between private and public life. If a man is a public figure—say an official or a politician or a writer or a speaker—he is a proper target for criticism, and ought to have it, and the community where faultfinding of that kind is forbidden is never a healthy one. But in our private relationships the less we criticize the better, for most people need encouragement much more than blame. So on the whole—don't snub your neighbor, don't make him look a fool, don't show him up, don't take him down, don't have things out with him, ... and, if you must do such things, don't be proud of it afterwards, for there is nothing to be proud of in putting a fellow creature out of action.

I seem to be preaching a sermon after all, so I will end up with a text. It's taken from a novel of John Masefield's called "Dead Ned." It's about praising: "Few people praise enough: all ought to praise when they see something that can be praised. Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it."

[Francis B. Sayre, as quoted by Ada Gilkey, in the Press Scimitar, Memphis, Tennessee]

If ever there was a time of spiritual need and craving now is that time....

Happiness is one of those profound values of life which humanity must have if we are to avoid overturn and revolution. In the commonly accepted belief of our day the road to happiness lies through material acquisition. Christ [Jesus], on the other hand, taught that inner happiness comes through the free giving of oneself to other people, irrespective of race, nation, or creed.... Christ [Jesus] taught human brotherhood among all races and all nations. How pathetically far away we are from that today!

What complicates the problem is that Christianity today has become so overgrown and choked with materialism that its force is deadened, its truth obscured. It has lost much of its savor. If humanity is to be saved through turning to Christianity, it must be a revitalized and purified Christianity.

[Editorial in the Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada]

One of the secrets of harmony in a society composed of individuals and also of bringing about international amity is the understanding spirit. This is the spirit which seeks to understand one another. It is the Christian spirit, and the spirit which the times call for if we are intent not only on seeking peace, but, what is more important, determined to ensue it....

If we seek to understand the other fellow, we thereby exercise the virtue of toleration. In our relations one with another, toleration plays a great part. It minimizes where otherwise it would magnify, when we view what we reckon the weaknesses of our fellow creatures. Nations can only live in peace with each other if they take the trouble to understand each other. But how often is this trouble not taken!

A great nation is a wise and understanding nation. This can also be said of the individual. "Be ye of an understanding heart," said the wise king. He esteemed the importance of understanding. "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart," was his request when he asked God to be blessed with wisdom in preference to riches.

Bickering amongst ourselves, bickerings among nations, will not be so prevalent if there is the spirit of seeking to understand. There is much in endeavoring to understand the problems of others. In doing this there will be exercise of what is beautifully called "Christian charity." "Charity suffereth long, and is kind." Charity finds its exposition in seeking to understand one another.

[From the Daily Times, Burlington, Vermont]

We are provoked, many times, by the folly, levity, and stupidity of those with whom we come in contact....

Men might remember that most provocations are really in themselves. They make great moment of them, by suffering them to deprive man of himself.

Life cannot proceed without man receiving provocations from human frailty. The careless and the imprudent, the giddy and the fickle, the ungrateful and the uninterested—everywhere meet us. They are the briars and thorns strewn along the path of human life.

The man who can hold his course among them with equanimity and patience, and who can bear what he must expect to happen, is—a man.

[Henry Geerlings, in the City News, Holland, Michigan]

Friendship asks that there be something of likeness between friends. Of course, no two people are just alike in every respect.... But at the same time there must be some common ground upon which two souls may meet. There must be a mutuality of understanding. There must be some like qualities in order to attract....

Then there must be the ability of each to appreciate the other.... Friendship asks for mutuality of appreciation. Soul must flow out to soul, and there must be a common bed for the stream.

Then there must be the sacrificial spirit in true friendship. Selfishness is a stranger to true friendship. It does not speak friendship's language. It does not know the warmth of friendship's heart. It is not acquainted with the greatness of friendship's soul. Real friendship lives for the welfare of the friend. It cannot enjoy life if it cannot spend itself. It feels no thrill if there is no daily adventure for the object of its love....

It must have sent a thrill through the hearts of his [Jesus'] disciples to hear him call them friends. And it was more than a name he made use of. He had shown toward them all the qualities of love, patience, sympathy, forbearance, appreciation, steadfastness, and they had come to think of him as their friend.

[From the Canadian Baptist, Toronto, Ontatio, Canada]

The word that finds the deepest depths in my heart is that little word "any," said General Evangeline Booth, in a recent address. I can go all round the world with that word. "If any man." I fling it out over any congregation as a white-winged bird, and it settles down upon the heart of every individual person. "If any man" in any kind of circumstances, in any sort of trouble, with any kind of past, with hope, or no hope, for the future. It stands unalterable....

The attribute of the character of God that has made the greatest appeal to the human heart is His impartiality. That glorious divine generosity that distributes His blessings without discrimination. It has been the expression of that impartiality in every word that He has given relating to His will and purpose concerning the human race that has made so strong an appeal to mankind. We trace it through all His invitations, His promises, His judgments, His warnings, this impartiality....

We find it in His invitations. It is this impartiality that has given salvation freely to all the world.... It does not matter what is the reason of the weariness, or the cause of the burden; it may be of your own making, or of someone else's making, which makes it all the harder to bear. Those waters of salvation, free to all, with their wonderful world sweep, are dashing upon the shores of every nation.

[Professor Arthur F. Compton, as quoted in the Free Press, Detroit, Michigan]

In this technological society, science is emphasizing more than ever the need of love for one's neighbors—and that is the central element of Christianity. We are only beginning now to think as a world unit. Antagonisms are self-defeating in the world community and mutual dependence requires consideration of the rights of others. The world as a whole seems to be acquiring a higher standard of morality, and it is evident that the growth of science has been coincident with this moral growth....

Good will among men is more urgently needed today than at any other time in man's history. Man progresses by co-operation. Politics can show us the way, but it cannot give us the spirit, and that is what is vitally needed. Science gives us the knowledge and consequent power; it is for us to determine how that power can be used.

[Bishop Charles Edward Locke, as quoted in the Times, Los Angeles, California]

No man can or should try to live unto himself. We must humanize our talents, our strength, our profits and influence, and dedicate them to the service of our fellow beings. Co-operation is implicit in any right philosophy of life. Today there is much railing against capital and the profit motive. However, the sin is not in the profit but in selfish hoarding. Sharing is distinctive Christian collectivism. The Christ-filled man is a noble example of the possibilities of true Christianity.

[Sir Richard Gregory, as quoted in the New York Times, New York]

The virtues which should be prized most today, if civilization is to mean the evolution of social ethics to a noble plane, is regard for spiritual values, love of truth and beauty, righteousness, care for the suffering, sympathy with the oppressed, and belief in the brotherhood of man....

Science has made the world one through the facilities of communications and transport now available; and it recognizes no political or racial boundaries in its fields of knowledge....

Men of science are, however, citizens as well as scientific workers; and they are beginning to realize their special responsibilities for securing that the fruits of scientific knowledge are used for human welfare....

It would be a betrayal of the scientific movement if scientific workers failed to play an active part in solving the social problems which their contributions to natural knowledge have created.