I think it's good to remember that people who are hurting hurt other people. Someone told me that once and I was like, "Well, that sounds trite and silly." But it's true. Think of the times when you just lashed out at someone for nothing: how did you feel at the very root of it all? I can definitely say that any time I've been a truly horrid person to someone else, I've been dying inside. And I've dealt with some really unpleasant people who have been just beaten down by life. I'm not saying they're easy to deal with or that you should necessarily put up with someone being mean, but the math teacher I talked about before was a single mother whose ex-husband had abruptly walked out on her and her daughter to move in with his secretary right about the time I was her student. I found out about that by listening to the parents of my friends talking. Don't know how they knew.

Anyway. Humans have a great capacity for destruction, but we are also capable of great compassion. I am working on that (not always easy).