Speak No Ill

Speak No Ill
 
Nay, speak no ill! - a kindly word
     Can never leave a sting behind,
And, oh! to breathe each tale we’ve heard
     Is far beneath a noble mind.
Full oft a better seed is sown
     By choosing thus the kinder plan:
For if but little good be known,
     Still let us speak the best we can.
 
Give me the heart that fain would hide -
     Would fain another’s fault efface;
How can it pleasure human pride
     To prove humanity but base?
No, let us reach a higher mood,
     A nobler estimate of man;
Be earnest in the search for good,
     And speak of all the best we can.
 
Then speak no ill - but lenient be
     To others’ failings as your own;
If you’re the first a fault to see,
     Be not the first to make it known.
For life is but a passing day,
     No lip may tell how brief its span;
Then oh! the little time we stay
     Let’s speak of all the best we can.
 
by Author Unknown