Ideals, like obligations, are not always in harmony with one another. In fact, they often compete with one another.

Consider this case.

A kindergarten boy from a poor family rides the school bus to and from school. On the half-hour ride, many of the other children on the bus entertain themselves by teasing him about his plain clothes, his unkempt hair, his worn shoes. Day after day the abuse continues, becoming more and more cruel. An 11-year-old girl, sensitive to the feeling s of others, notices the boy suffering in silence, unable to understand why the other students want to make him feel bad. The girl is repulsed by his appearance and is not at all eager to alienate her friends. Honest bids her stay out of the affair. But kindness prompts her to sit with him, speak with him, become a ‘big sister' he can look forward to seeing each day on the bus so that the rejection of the others will not scar him emotionally"