The Slice: Don’t be at loss for words at your next chariot race

It’s almost Easter.

So this might be the right time to note there are not many situations in life that can’t be addressed with a line from the 1959 classic movie “Ben-Hur.”

Here, I’ll show you what I mean.

Say you are a workplace supervisor and an employee who reports to you has an attitude problem. You could say …

“Your eyes are full of hate, 41. That’s good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength.”

But suppose the employee with the bad attitude refuses to get with the program. Well, you could do worse than to put it to him straight.

“We keep you alive to serve this ship. Row well, and live.”

Or let’s say you encounter a rival who freely volunteers that the two of you have a history of bad blood. But you want to take the high road. You might wish to quote Judah Ben-Hur.

“I see no enemy.”

Or maybe you fear that one of your children has fallen under the spell of a charismatic college professor and has adopted a hopelessly naive view of the world. You know what to say.

“Balthasar is a good man. But until all men are like him, we must keep our swords bright.”

Or maybe you are astonished to see a good, decent man – someone who had helped you in the past – suffer some outrageous misfortune at the hands of oppressors.

“He gave me water, and the heart to live. What has he done to merit this?”

Maybe you might find yourself in a marketing meeting. You could say what is almost always said.

“Sextus, you ask how to fight an idea. Well, I’ll tell you how … with another idea!”

Or perhaps you have gotten a promotion at work and one of your first moves is to slap down a longtime pal for some minor transgression.

“By condemning without hesitation an old friend, I shall be feared.”

Maybe you are a closet polygamist and feel the need to go public. As always, the “Ben-Hur” script has what you need.

“One God, that I can understand. But one wife? That is not civilized.”

Or perhaps you find yourself contemplating perfect love and wonder aloud about the nature of compassion and grace.

“Once before, a man helped me. I didn’t know why then.”

But maybe you do now.

Today’s Slice question: If you were the recipient of Easter baskets as a child, what sorts of things did they usually contain?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Some seemingly stern parents also did the voices for stuffed rabbits.