Friday mornings will be better now.

In an effort to improve my mind, which you will all agree has great scope for improvement, I am reading The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Although they were written nearly two thousand years ago, many of the aphorisms found in this book are still highly relevant today. Of course, several of you will have read it in its original form, but I am afraid I am havng to make do with a translation.

Early in my reading I came across the following:

It was the critic Alexander who put me on my guard against unnecessary fault-finding. People should not be corrected for bad grammar, provincialisms, or mispronunciation: it is better to suggest the proper expression by tactfully introducing it oneself in, say, one's reply to a question or one's acquiescence in their sentiment, or have a friendly discussion of the topic itself (not of the diction), or by some other suitable form of reminder.

I intend to take this advice to heart and you can expect a change in the way I conduct meetings in the future.

Tom