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About this quote

What does it mean?
Avoid making cutting remarks that harm others.
In plain terms
Don’t say hurtful jokes about people.
What can you take from it?
Choose kindness over sarcasm.

Where it applies

  • social interactions
  • online discourse

Putting it to work

  • think before speaking
  • practice constructive feedback

Questions to consider

  • When is wit acceptable?
  • How can we balance humor and respect?

Another view

Some humor can be benign and still involve wit.

More from Horace Mann

  1. Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins

    Permalink to quote #13
  2. Character is what God and the angels know of us; reputation is what men and women think of us.

    Permalink to quote #15
  3. A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.

    Permalink to quote #12

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