The Weather and the Words in Passing : Page 233

It is a beautiful thing gently to relay a compliment or a kind word. It will linger like a favorite melody in the minds of those who know you. They won't be conscious of it, perhaps; they won't fully realize why it is — they will just feel that you are an extraordinarily delightful person to meet. A relayed compliment is the most powerful joy giver and reconciler in the world. Once I heard a lady say that Jones was too boorish and crude in his manners to suit her. Then I heard him say one day that Mrs. Tweeney was a prim, narrow-minded woman, but one who, he had to admit, could grasp an abstract idea and give better reasons for it than the usual feminine "because." When I heard Mrs. Tweeney once again attack Jones, I said casually, "I suppose he thinks you have one or two shortcomings, too, but I remember his saying that you are one woman who can grasp an abstract idea and argue rationally." She grumbled, "He did, did he!" She said it gruffly, but even at that moment the sting was ebbing out of her dislike. Before I left she managed to say, "Well,