--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 8 number: 4 published: 1905-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "A Word of Kindness," *Improvement Era* 8, no. 4 (February 1905): 247.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0804unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0804unse start_page: 247 end_page: 247 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1905-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0804unse publication_year: 1905 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1905, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # A Word of Kindness A WORD OF KINDNESS. Drop a word of cheer and kindness—just a flash, and it is gone; But there's half a hundred ripples circling on and on and on, Semiring hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave. Till you wouldn't believe the volume of the one kind word you gave. Drop a word of chper and kindness—in a minute you forget; But there's gladness still a-swelling, and there's joy a-circling yet; And you've rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard. Over miles and miles of water—just by dropping a kind word. —Selected.