Dalrymple and his wife observed a young bird in distress at their French country home and wanted to help. From this he draws lessons on the crucial difference between good intentions and good acts.

There are many areas of life in which this lesson is important, particularly medicine, politics, controversy and private life. The desire to help, however genuine or burning, is not the same as actually helping…In other words, the urge to help should be kept under rational control, like any other urge, though not so completely that it withers all sympathy with suffering or all impulse to go to the assistance of anybody whatever his circumstances.