The Cunard Liner Queen Mary was originally to have been named Queen Victoria. A Cunard official was dispatched to Buckingham Palace to inform King George V of the choice, and he nervously began to explain the matter to the king by saying that the company decided to name the imposing new vessel after the "the greatest of all the English Queens."
The delighted king exclaimed, "Oh, my wife will be so pleased!" The poor Cunard man did not have the courage to point out the king's mistake, so the ship was renamed.
It is hard, when we are concerned about hurting the other fellow's feelings, to say what are meant to say. Yet, softening the truth can sometimes lead to misleading statements.
We should always strive to be kind but never misleading.
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