Amy presented this beautiful quote at my toastmasters meeting a couple of weeks ago...
I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily
mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life
miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of
inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations,
it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or
de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat
people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought
to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I had read (and was moved) (and then forgot it) the last line many many years ago, in a book by MM (y'know, my hero). I can't remember if Goethe was cited there or not, but the sentiment was powerful. You can understand my infatuation.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand your infatuation :) I actually like the first part of the quote more -- the part about creating the climate and making the weather and the power that we have to make things better or worse. That part really speaks to me.
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