Dale Carnegie wrote a wonderful book many years ago entitled, “How To Stop Worrying and Start Living.” It has been so helpful to me that I try to read it once every year.
Carnegie has a good paragraph on criticism: "I received a letter from a woman denouncing General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. I had given a laudatory broadcast about General Booth, so this woman wrote me, saying that General Booth had stolen eight million dollars of the money he had collected to help poor people.
"The charge, of course, was absurd. But this woman wasn't looking for the truth. She was seeking the mean-spirited gratification that she got from tearing down someone far above her. I threw her bitter letter into the wastebasket, and thanked Almighty God that I wasn't married to her. Her letter didn't tell me anything at all about General Booth, but it did tell me a lot about her."
Carnegie goes on to say that no one kicks a dead dog. The more important a dog is, the more satisfaction people get in kicking him.
Anybody can criticize. That is easy. It takes no talent to criticize. Anyone can do that.
The next time that you are unjustly criticized, remember that unjust criticism is often a hidden compliment. No one kicks a dead dog!