If you have a neighbor who is surly and troublesome--tell him that he is so, and you make him worse than ever.

But watch for some occasion in which he shows you some little kindness, and thank him cordially for such a good neighborly act, and he will feel a strong desire to repeat it.

If mankind universally understood this principle, and would generally act upon it in their dealings with others--of course, with such limitations and restrictions as good sense and sound judgment would impose--the world would not only go on much more smoothly and harmoniously than it does now, but the progress of improvement would, I think, in all respects be infinitely more rapid..