"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind."

Henry James (1843-1916)

This brings to mind the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832), who said: "Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together." Witness, too, the words of Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, and musician (1875-1965): "Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. " These words may read like a platitude, but the fact is that our daily lives are marked with many kindnesses, our own as much as those of others, and every act of kindness, no matter how small, is a gift to the world, making it a more graceful, more beautiful, more peaceful place.