Don't Begrudge Praise

1895

Why is it that, even with the nearest and dearest, praise is so begrudged, while blame is so freely bestowed? In nine cases out of ten the former does infinitely more good and incites to far greater exertion than the latter. Nevertheless, as a rule, the fondest parent, the kindest teacher, the most faithful friend, often hesitates to praise, while seldom failing to censure when the occasion calls for it.

There is ever the feeling latent that the recipient will be unduly elated by any approbation bestowed, and parents and teachers sometimes hesitate on that account to express unstinted commendation, while brothers and sisters and even friends often at heart really begrudge the satisfaction and perhaps self complacency they might evoke by giving expression to the admiration they may honestly feel.

While flattery is ever profuse and easy to obtain, honest praise is a rare commodity, seldom given even when most deserved and grudgingly withheld when most needed. How often a child feels "there is no use trying" simply because his feeble efforts for the right obtain no recognition, while his faults are constantly recapitulated. — Exchange.