OUR FRIENDS.

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19597, 8 June 1935, Page 5

OUR FRIENDS.

THE TRUTHFUL AND THE TACTFUL. You may not have divided your friends Into the truthful and tactful, but, when you come to think of it, they belong to one group or the other, and, In each case, are proud to do so. If they are tactful, careful not. to hurt your feelings, -clever in avoiding subjects that may be distasteful to you, you will enjoy their company, but you will almost certainly sometimes put them down as humbugs. If they are blatantly truthful on all occasions, blurting out any Ideas that occur to them, any gossip or information that has come their way, with no regard for the susceptibilities of others, It is possible that some people may And them amusing, charming, frank, while others may be deeply hurt. Your really truthful person is always so pleased with herself, so virtuous, so natural, so free from guile. Discussing eyesight one day with one of these truthful ones, I was nonplussed when she stared at me through her new spectacles, remarking amiably: “With these glasses I can see all your wrinkles!” I had not presence of mind enough to say: “But how unfortunate for both of us!" Resides, she did not mean to bo offensive, she was only truthful. Avoiding Friction. How wearing it would be fo live always with people of litis type, people who have never heard of lact. The tactful person is not necessarily untruthful, but site thinks twice before making any remark that will wound or hurt, however true it may be. By nature site is kind, gentle, she wishes lo please; site helps to oil Die wheels of (lie machinery so (hat friction is avoided. 'She has good manners in llie best sense. She may not, of course, lie ■quite sincere and one is always slightly suspicious of the too tactful person. She is such a good manager. But the really tactful person 1s clever and gets her own way by pleasing others. Nothing but the truth” is too drastic a motto for harmonious living if observed literally. Speak truth, by all means, but- remember that silence is sometimes more conducive lo friendship.—M.U., in Ihe News Chronicle.