In order to avoid contention, never contradict anyone, except in case of sin or some danger to a neighbor; and when necessary to contradict others, and to oppose your opinion to theirs, do it with so much mildness and tact, as not to appear to do violence to their mind, for nothing is ever gained by taking up things with excessive warmth and hastiness.
Restrain thy mind, and let mildness ever attend thy tongue.
That energy which veils itself in mildness is most effective of its object.
Magnanimity consists in enduring tactlessness with mildness.
Old age is not one of the beauties of creation, but it is one of its harmonies. The law of contrasts is one of the laws of beauty. Under the conditions of our climate, shadow gives light its worth; sternness enhances mildness; solemnity, splendor. Varying proportions of size support and subserve one another.
A victorious general must know how to employ severity, justness, and mildness by turns, if he would allay sedition or prevent it.
To disarm a zealot, teach him truth by precept, and mildness by example.
