Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.

Feeling the right thing costs nothing, and everyone knows it, including the person feeling it. One small act of actual kindness outweighs an entire evening of fine sympathy, because the act had to be paid for in time or money or awkwardness. Sentiment left unspent tends to curdle into self-congratulation, which is why people who talk most movingly about compassion are not always the ones you would ring at midnight.

Take the concern you have been feeling about someone and convert it this week into a single specific thing: a visit, a meal, a transfer, an hour. Do it before the feeling substitutes itself for the deed.