Be kind, because everyone you meet is having a hard struggle
The Forgiven“Be kind, because everyone you meet is having a hard struggle” is a maxim Richard recalls from school, where Dr. Amos had repeatedly attributed it to Plato. Its force in the passage lies in Richard’s uncertainty about whether it applies to David Henniger, a longtime friend whose difficult character is familiar to him but whose private hardship remains unclear.
The maxim in Richard’s memory
Richard remembers the line while reflecting on his history with David. He describes David as witty, cruel, handsome, and loyal at school, and later as rich, spirited, argumentative, and prone to heavy drinking. Beneath that portrait, however, Richard senses something crushed. The remembered maxim gives that impression an ethical weight: it asks Richard to consider the possibility of suffering beneath behavior he finds tiresome or entertaining.
Its uneasy application to David
The passage does not settle whether David is having a hard struggle. Richard’s question remains open, sharpened by the contrast between David’s privilege and the vulnerability Richard suspects in him. The maxim therefore functions less as a verdict than as a prompt to look beyond the brash, buffoonish surface—and to recognize that familiarity with someone’s faults does not make their inner difficulty legible.
