As a matter even of everyday convenience, as a means of mere success in affairs, cultivate goodwill. This is not to say that a selfish and material motive is a better reason than one which seeks the good of others; but even on this plane alone, goodwill is worth considerable care and attention. The goodwill or illwill of those around us creates an atmosphere stimulating or repressing, according as either quality is in force. An individual is as inevitably affected by the thought sent out about him, as a magnet is by its proximity to an electric current. It is one of the eternal laws, like gravitation or the tides of the sea. The goodwill we send out to others reacts upon ourselves. It makes possible hitherto undreamed-of things.
" If I wanted to punish an enemy," wisely said Sidney Smith, "I would fasten on him the continual trouble of hating somebody." There is a world of philosophy in that. It is really far more painful, and far more harmful to the individual, to actively dislike another, than it is to be disliked by another. It is far more pernicious to hate than to be hated. So close and so fine are all the relations of human life, that all goodwill is communicative, and forms a vital force, like the power of an electric battery. The welfare of all is the best safeguard for the welfare of each. On grounds of material success, as well as on those of higher and holier aspiration, cultivate goodwill.
