Some of the ways that Dale Carnegie writes makes me smile. He says, “Do you know someone you would like to change and regulate and improve? That is fine. I am all in favor of it. But why not begin on yourself?” How is that for a great way to start out? I loved it.
Later he goes on to say, “When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.
“Bitter criticism caused the sensitive Thomas Hardy, one of the finest novelists ever to enrich English literatures, to give up forever the writing of fiction. Criticism drove Thomas Chatterton, the English poet, to suicide.
“Benjamin Franklin, tactless in his youth, became so diplomatic, so adroit at handling people, that he was made American Ambassador to France. The secret of his success? ‘I will speak ill of no man,’ he said, ‘… and speak all the good I know of everybody.’
“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do.
“But it takes character and self – control to be understanding and forgiving.
“’A great man shows his greatness,’ said Carlyle, ‘by the way he treats little men.’”
So, Dale Carnegie says that we need to keep our words kind. He tells us if we want to win friends and influence people we need to not criticize, condemn or complain. He is so right.
This week let’s watch our words and listen to whether we’re criticizing, condemning or complaining. How do we sound to others? Think kind. Be kind. Speak kind.
Pioneer Days is over. Start your kind days by saying thank you to those who worked so hard to bring such a wonderful celebration to our community. Thank the businesses who sponsor parts of it.
And I’ll see you on the bricks!