You never know

You can never tell when you send a word
Like an arrow shot from a bow
By an archer blind, be it cruel or king,
Just where it may change and go.
It may pierce the breast of your dearest friend,
Tipped with its poison or balm,
To a stranger's heart in life's great mart,
It may carry its pain or its calm.

You never can tell when you do an act
Just what the result will be;
But with every deed you are sowing a seed,
Though the harvest you may not see.
Each kindly act is an acorn dropped
In God's productive soil,
You may not know, but the tree shall grow,
With shelter for those who toil.

You never can tell what you thoughts will do,
In bringing you hate or love;
For thoughts are things, and their airy wings
Are swifter than carrier doves.
They follow the law of the universe--
Each thing must create its king,
And they speed o'er the tract to bring you back
Whatever went out from you mind.

~~Ella Wheeler Wilcox