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"Backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul." (Baha'u'llah) (67:3) "Remember above all the teachings of Baha'u'llah concerning gossip and unseemly talk about others. Stories repeated about others are seldom good. A silent tongue is safest. Even good may be harmful if spoken at the wrong time or to the wrong person." ('Abdul-Baha) (67:4) Gossip can only thrive where there is an audience. It is therefore incumbent on a Baha'i not to listen to gossip as well as not to speak it. (67:5) ..courtesy is really an aspect of kindliness: small every day acts of refinement which show a concern for the feeling of others. (67:6) "O people of God! I exhort you to courtesy. Courtesy is in the primary station, the lord of virtues. Blessed is he who is illumined with the light of courtesy, and is adorned with the mantle of uprightness! He who is endowed with courtesy is endowed with a great station." (Baha'u'llah) (67:7) One of the most unpleasant and common manifestations of discourtesy is the habit of looking down on the views of others: the middle-aged snorting at the "nonsense" of the young, the young contemptuously dismissing the archaic sermons of their elders, the intellectual snob.. 067009@Beware! Beware! Lest ye offend any heart! |