1. Remember that the sick are weak and easily exhausted. Unless the patient is nearing recovery, the visit should be very brief. A doctor once said he wished relative to the Scripture, "And ye visited me," that the Lord has added the phrase, "and ye didn't stay long."

2. Abide by requests for "No Visitors," and don't tell yourself: "That means everybody but me."

3. Hold your voice down. Be cheerful but not boisterous. Over the door of one hospital is a sign: "If you can't smile, don't go in."

4. Don't question the patient about his illness. If he mentions it, let him talk freely.

5. Don't be tempted to prescribe your own remedies.

6. Don't talk about others who have died with the same illness!

7. In severe cases, don't enter the room at all unless needed or invited by the family.

8. Don't touch the bed. A stream of bed-jostling visitors can drive a patient to distraction.

From the lesson book "You Can Be Beautiful With the Beauty of Holiness," page 77, copyright 1959