One of the first laws was "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,"
but as time went on and man developed mentally his animal instincts
were subordinated and the law was changed, and the new law was this:
"return good for evil."
Nearly every man who has an injury done him tries to repay the injury.
He must either repay it with good or with evil. If he repays it with
evil he does not get satisfaction. If he repays it with good he gets
happiness. It is certain that payment of evil with good can satisfy a
man who is looking for revenge, while it has always been a question
whether there is any satisfaction in paying evil with evil.
If a man does you a mean turn he is expecting you will repay him in
like manner. He guards himself against this. He is ready for your
revenge, but if you repay him with good you attack him in a weak spot
and make him feel like thirty cents, and this is all the revenge you
can ask for.
It is all right to get square with a man who does you a wrong, and the
best way to get square is by doing him a good turn.
You should keep mental ledger accounts with all of your friends and all
your enemies. When a person does you an injury, debit him until you
have a chance to credit his account with some good turn; when you
credit his account be sure you overpay what you are owing him, so you
will have a balance coming to your credit.
We have been taught to return good for evil, but we have heard the
saying so many times that few of us pay any attention to it.
It's worth while testing, this rule of returning good for evil. The
next time someone harms you, repay him by doing him a kindness, and see
if you don't feel happier, and at the same time get all the
satisfaction you are looking for. It matters not whether the person to
whom you have done a kindness appreciates it; you have been benefited
and received happiness by your own act, for virtue is its own reward.
The man who returns good for evil, has the satisfaction of the man who
has on clean underwear, the world may not know it but he does, and that
is all that is necessary.