Welcome back to another Wednesday Words. Today I invite you to think about three little questions with big consequential answers. I first saw these questions years ago on a piece of paper posted behind the counter in a nearby eyeglass shop.
My theory is that by posting them in the shop where employees and customers could read them, the result, among other things, was that they influenced the outstanding customer service I consistently received there.
Each question is like a stop sign, a reminder to pause and ponder our words before we speak them and our actions before we take them.
Three little questions
-
- Is It True?
- Is It Kind?
- Is It Necessary?
Update 3/27/2025
A friend of mine sent me this source material for those questions:
Thanks for reading!
BTW – today happens to be my birthday. I’m so grateful to be alive and for everyone I get to know and share it with. So many of you have taught me things about what’s true, kind, and necessary!
Best wishes from your writer on the wing,
Charlene
John Arnett
Three Gates of Gold from “the Arabian”:
If you are tempted to reveal
A tale some one to you has told
About another, make it pass,
Before you speak, three gates of gold.
Three narrow gates — first, “Is it true?”
Then, “Is it needful?” In your mind
Give truthful answer, and the next,
If last and narrowest, “Is it kind?”
And if to reach your lips at last
It passes through these gateways three,
Then you may tell the tale, nor fear
What the result of speech may be.
Charlene
Ah ha! sounds like the source of that list! Thanks John.
Steve Muratore
Happy Birthday Charlene! ❤️🎶🌻🦉
Charlene
Ah ha! sounds like the source of that list! Thanks John.
Thanks for the birthday wishes, Steve.
John Arnett
Happy Birthday
Candy Dawson
I still remember my mother’s words: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
🎈HaPpY BiRtHdAy, dear Charlene!🥳
Charlene
Thanks John and also Candy for your happy bday wishes. It’s been a couple weeks long celebration this year:-)