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.’ – Aldous Huxley
Sept. 11 may have made ‘kindness’ to be a bit more cool in our culture than before, but it’s still not a value that’s given much attention, especially for guys. I don’t think of myself as a kind person, and I don’t really work at it. I should. Why don’t I? It’s a long story, based on my family of origin. But I’ve dealt with all that, yet something still stops me.
Could it be that some of it is just cultural semantics? “Kind” seems feminine, new agey, soft. Maybe the phrase “going out of my way” is a better way to put it. Hmm. I wonder if it would make a difference.