So.  True Story.  Or, at least I am told it is so.  Oh, oh.

Alright.  It is a story from a long time ago, actually.  It happened in  ancient Greece.  There was this pretty smart dude, named Socrates.  Yes, in fact, in his day, he was “da man.”  Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.

One day, old Socrates was probably sitting on a big marble stone somewhere, and another fellow approached him.  The other fellow… let’s call him Melvin…. met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”.

“Yo. Yo. Hold on a  little minute there,” Socrates replied.

“Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”.

Melvin was like…. mouth open wide… and uttered….”Triple filter?”.

“That is correct-o-mun-do,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test.
“ The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

Well.  Melvin scratched his little bald head with his little stubby fingers.  ”Nope.  Actually I just heard about it and…”.

Socrates nipped him in the bud.  ”All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

Again, Mel sputtered a little…… ”No, on the contrary…”.

Once again, Socrates cut him off… right at the knees.  “ So….you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true? You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

As you may have guessed, Melvin was about to strike out. ”No, not really.”

“Well dag nab it,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

And then, I am sure Socrates threw up his right palm and started waving it..  like… “Talk to the Hand.”

There it a big lesson here, from our man So-Crates.  Not only should we hold our friends in the highest esteem, we shouldn’t talk about them.  Especially gossipy-ness.    And of course, the old triple filter… who could ask for more.
Is it true?  Is it good?  Is it useful?

The other thing, no matter who we are… large or small, white or black, thin or thick… we all need other people.  Friends. Loved ones.  Someone to watch over us.    And, we all want to be loved.  Plain and simple.

And this, my friends, is a common denominator among us.  Just one more thing that makes us all alike, on a very fundamental level.  And with that, we should try to be kind.  To the ones we love, and the ones we don’t even know.

I mean…. Even snakes have friends.   And  so it goes.

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.
— Lao Tzu