Much of our dissension is due to misunderstanding that could be put right by a few honest words and a little open dealing. Human beings so often live at cross purposes with each other, when a frank word or a simple confession of wrong, almost a look or a gesture, would heal the division. Resentment grows through brooding over a fancied slight. Hearts harden themselves in silence, and, as time goes on, it becomes more difficult to break through the silence. Through our sinful separations, our selfish exclusiveness, and our resentful pride, there is a terrible waste of human friendship, a waste of power that might be used to bless all our lives. We let the sweetest souls we have met die without acknowledging our debt to them. We stand aside in haughty isolation until the open grave opens our sealed hearts too late. We let the chance of reconciliation pass until it is irrevocable.

The Art of Being a Good Friend
Hugh Black