A lady went to the Rabbi and confessed
that she was guilty of being a
gossip. The last bit of gossip she had
told was hurting a friend how
could she make it right?
The wise man gave her a large down feather
pillow and told her to take
it and empty it in the town square.
She came back and reported that she had
done so, she asked would that
make things right? He said that she now
had to go back and pick up
*every* feather and bring it back to him.
She said that it would be impossible,
the wind had blown some away. Some
might have landed on coaches going far
away. There is no telling were
they had all gone.
He merely said yes. The woman went away
a much wiser person.
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There was a little boy with a bad
temper. His father gave him a bag
of nails and told him that
every time he lost his temper, to hammer
a nail in the back fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails
into the fence. Then it gradually
dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to
hold his temper than to drive those
nails into the fence. Finally the
day came when the boy didn't lose
his temper at all. He told his father about
it and the father suggested that
the boy now pull out one nail for each
day that he was able to hold his
temper. The days passed and the young boy
was finally able to tell his father
that all the nails were gone. The
father took his son by the hand
and led him to the fence. He said, "You
have done well, my son, but look
at the holes in the fence. The fence will
never be the same. When
you say things in anger, they leave a scar just
like this one.
You can put a knife in a man
and draw it out. It won't matter how
many times you say I'm sorry,
the wound is still there. A verbal wound
is as bad as a physical one.
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed.
They make you smile and encourage
you to succeed. They lend an ear, they
share a word of praise, and they
always want to open their hearts to us. Show
your friends how much you
care.