Buddhist thoughts

The school I teach at is (nominally) Buddhist and so just by the back entrance there is a chalk board upon which each month some kind of Buddhist message is written to inspire the students to think a little more deeply about their lives. I guess most of them don't read it and quite a lot of the messages come across as preachy and patronising anyway, but this month's message intrigued me and so here it is:

正しいことを
言っても
相手を
傷つけること
もある

tadashiikoto wo
itte mo
aite wo
kizutsukerukoto
mo aru

even if you say
the right thing
you still may hurt
a person's feelings

What is the meaning of this message I wonder? Maybe "Sometimes it's better to lie to save someone's feelings"? Or "Nobody's perfect"? How about "You can't please all of the people all of the time"? "Damned if you do and damned if you don't"?

It's been bugging me all day.

Well, back to the language. Please note this kanji: 傷. Look familiar? We have seen this before in the expression: 脛に傷持つ－すねにきずもつ　－　to have a guilty consience or a shady past.

傷 can be read as SHOU kizu ita・mu ita・meru and means wound or injury. This can be a literal injury such as 重傷 (juushou) a serious injury or 傷 (kizu) meaning scar. Or it can be something more figurative such as 中傷 (chuushou) slander or 傷物 (kizumono) a deflowered girl. 傷む (itamu) and 傷める (itameru) mean be spoiled or damaged and spoil/damage respectively. The word in the poem 傷つける (kizutukeru) in the poem can mean either to literally hurt or damage someone or to hurt someone's feelings. It's the latter meaning that today's Buddhist message implies. I'm wondering what happened to the writer of this message before he wrote it. A lover's complaint perhaps?