Let me comment first on the title, “Be Kind, For Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle.” This is attributed either to Plato or to Philo, and nobody has actually found the reference in either of these people’s works, but throughout history it has always been either Philo said it or Plato. Most people know who Plato is. Philo was a Jewish philosopher who lived in the first half of the first century, so actually he was alive during the time of Jesus. He was not from the Middle East but, in fact, he is usually called Philo of Alexandria. He was a follower of Plato, and actually he belongs to what philosophically is called “Middle Platonism.” He basically took Plato’s work and expanded it somewhat. That is all I really want to say about him. But anyway, either he said it, or if he said it perhaps he got it from Plato. But whoever said it, it is a wonderful statement. Again, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

From time to time, I always like to have a class or a workshop on the theme of kindness. At the beginning I did not do that. As the years went by and it became increasingly clear how unkind most Course students are; they are not any different from any other person or any other group. Certainly you would expect students of the Course would be different, and obviously they are not. It seemed like this was an important theme to be reminded of from time to time. This is another of those times to talk about kindness.