Former U.S. Senator, Alan Simpson, spoke at President George H.W. Bush's memorial service a few weeks ago and said something that really resonated with me. Simpson talked a lot about what kind of person our nation's 41st President was, as well as how he lived his life. He said of Bush, "He knew what his mother and my mother always knew: hatred corrodes the container it's carried in."
That was the first time that I've ever heard that saying specifically, and unfortunately I don't know where it came from. Mark Twain supposedly once said, "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." It probably doesn't matter who said it or where it came from as much as what is says. The message is a powerful one, especially given how prevalent hatred is in our world today.
We could (and we should) learn a lot from Simpson's quote. There are so many problems in our world today that we need to solve - and we will only be successful at solving them if we join forces, hand in hand, and work together. Hatred does not solve any problem. Rather, hatred creates new ones. As the Buddha once said, "Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule."
We may disagree with someone's opinions, beliefs, choices, or even lifestyle. So what? That doesn't mean that we can't treat one another with kindness, compassion, and understanding. Just because we don't agree on how to solve the problems of today (we may even not agree on what those problems are) doesn't mean we should be disrespectful, mean, or bitter. Big problems are hard problems. Big problems require big solutions. And big solutions are hard solutions. Hatred is not the solution.
If we hope to find success, and if we want to be respected, appreciated, and loved, we need to avoid hatred. At all costs.
Very well said Mr Wheeler. I heard this as a watched the funeral too. That was the most profound statement I have ever heard.
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