3. It’s true there are some who wear their hearts on their sleeve. But the majority of people you encounter each day are carrying emotions around inside. Although you cannot tell by looking who has just lost a child to SIDS or who is in the middle of a difficult divorce or who has just been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, it’s safe to assume people have problems. (Sometimes the more difficult the person, the most difficult the problem she carries.) Restrain your natural, and sometimes even justifiable, impulses toward sarcasm or impatience. Self-talk before talking. Try repeating the popular line, “There but for the grace of God go I,” just prior to uttering damaging remarks.