Our mother raised us lovingly, on food, church and words.
Some of her words came from the Bible, of course. Many were old family sayings, old Jamaican/British proverbs, or came from sources unknown.
If we judged another person harshly, my siblings and I would hear this one:
“There is so much good in the worst of us
And so much bad in the best of us
That it doesn’t behoove any of us
To speak evil of the rest of us.”
Just recently, I Googled the saying’s origin and found it attributed to two Americans: Edward Wallis Hoch, and Edgar Cayse both born in the 19th century. Hoch’s version ends slightly differently:
“…That it hardly behooves any of us
To talk about the rest of us.”
I don’t know who said it first. But as far as her children are concerned, Mama said it best!
Cynthia Reyes 