“If you treat men the way they are, you never improve them.
If you treat them the way you want them to be, you do.” -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
These words–presented in slightly different ways in different translations–come from a character in Goethe’s 1795 masterpiece, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, but they almost certainly represent Goethe’s view. In the 1960’s, John W. Gardener offered a slightly different perspective: “If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are.”
Just in saying, you/we can help everyone rise to a higher level.
FYI…the prize has not been hit for comments on “thought starter ifferisms”.
Have a great restful weekend.
I love y’all,
sysr
I love being treated like the person I know I can be!
It takes consideration every time we speak to someone, so if we could all try to think of how we may affect (positively or negatively) someones day we may make a HUGE difference in everyones life that we associate with.
I think this philosophy is stressed in raising children but I really like the idea of using it in the world. What a great world this would be if we could see everyone we meet as their best self and treat them as such. Then, they would act as their best self and the ripple effect would be never ending.