People Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones

One of the favorite pastimes of many people is to criticize others. Some spend their entire lives finding fault in the actions of their neighbors, friends, and even strangers. Unfortunately, many of the people doing the complaining need look no farther than themselves to find fault.

This is where the adage "People Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones" come from. If someone is open to the same type of crticism they are leveling, they shouldn't level it! Consider the case of some of the politicians on Capitol Hill lambasting President Bill Clinton for having an affair. When it was discovered that some of those who spoke out most against the president had their own naughty predilections, they suddenly fell silent. The "stones" that they had thrown against the president ended up destroying their own lies (their "glass houses"). Worse, the embarrassment they suffered was much worse than if they had remained silent on the Clinton issue, because they were shown to be a hypocrite in addition to all of the other terrible things they were!

If someone needs correcting for their actions, please try to do it in private and only after you have fixed any such problems in your own life. That way, there will be much less shattered glass lying around!

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Links of Interest: Hyde and Seek in Washington TIME.com 9/17/98