I was thoroughly entertained by Professor Stephen Smith’s May 16 letter to Bill Bennett from Mark Twain. I then had to laugh at myself when I realized I was guilty of the same sin as Bill Bennett, Stephen Smith and every other person who is too busy noticing the speck in his neighbor’s eye while ignoring the two-by-four in his own — passing judgement.

I have never been a fan of Bill Bennett. He comes across as entirely too humorless, as someone who perpetually gets up on the wrong side of the bed and makes sure the rest of the world knows it. At the same time, his “Book of Virtues” certainly has plenty to offer people of all ages in search of principles for leading a full and meaningful life. Do as I say, not as I do, would seem to apply here.

It is human nature, I suppose, to be gleeful and make sport of the mighty who fall — particularly those who indicate by their lives and actions that they believe themselves superior to others. (Martha Stewart comes to mind.) While the writers of letters to the editor, columnists and late-night entertainers are having a field day with this, we would do well to pause and ask ourselves what they do to ease human suffering in the world. A smile, a kind word, a card sent to someone in pain — these and other expressions of human decency are worth far more to the recipient than the $8 million Bill Bennett may have squandered at the gambling table in Las Vegas.

Perhaps we could keep that in mind the next time we are tempted to celebrate another’s misfortune. I know in my own circumstance, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

Knight Chamberlain

Lumberton