Background Image

...

Seeing With Better Eyes We Can Recognize That The Offender Is A Valuable Human Being Who Struggles With The Same Needs, Pressures, And Confusions That We Struggle With. We Will Recognize That The Incident Really May Not Have Been About Us In The First Place. Instead It Was About The Wrongdoer's Misguided Attempt To Meet His Or Her Own Needs. As We Regard Offenders From This Point Of View (regardless Of Whether They Repent And Regardless Of What They Have Done Or Suffered), We Will Be In A Position To Forgive Them.

-Elbert Hubbard

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Seeing With Better Eyes

Elbert Hubbard

...

Seeing With Better Eyes We Can Recognize That The Offender Is A Valuable Human Being Who Struggles With The Same Needs, Pressures, And Confusions That We Struggle With. We Will Recognize That The Incident Really May Not Have Been About Us In The First Place. Instead It Was About The Wrongdoer's Misguided Attempt To Meet His Or Her Own Needs. As We Regard Offenders From This Point Of View (regardless Of Whether They Repent And Regardless Of What They Have Done Or Suffered), We Will Be In A Position To Forgive Them.

Views: 6

Topic

More From Elbert Hubbard

A Man Is Not Paid For Having A Head And Hands, But For Using Them.

Your Neighbor Is The Man Who Needs You.

Gossip Is Vice Enjoyed Vicariously

There Is Something That Is Much More Scarce, Something Finer Far, Something Rarer Than Ability. It Is The Ability To Recognize Ability.

It's Pretty Hard To Be Efficient Without Being Obnoxious.

Positive Anything Is Better Than Negative Nothing.

Piety Is The Tinfoil Of Pretense.

A Goal Without A Plan Is A Dream.

Never Explain - Your Friends Do Not Need It And Your Enemies Will Not Believe You Anyway.

The Man Who Is Anybody And Who Does Anything Is Surely Going To Be Criticized, Vilified, And Misunderstood. This Is A Part Of The Penalty For Greatness, And Every Great Man Understands It; And Understands, Too, That It Is No Proof Of Greatness. The Final Proof Of Greatness Lies In Being Able To Endure Contumely Without Resentment.

To Avoid Criticism, Do Nothing, Say Nothing And Be Nothing.

Many A Man's Reputation Would Not Know His Character If They Met On The Street.

Most Reformers Wore Rubber Boots And Stood On Glass When God Sent A Current Of Commonsense Through The Universe.

A Form Of Self-delusion.

Conformists Die, But Heretics Live Forever.

Get Happiness Out Of Your Work Or You May Never Know What Happiness Is.

We Will Not Be Dictated To By Men With Less Intelligence, Energy, Initiative And Ambition Than We Ourselves Possess.

People Who Are Able To Do Their Own Thinking Should Not Allow Others To Do It For Them.

Love, We Say, Is Life; But Love Without Hope And Faith Is Agonizing Death.

The Great Big Black Things That Have Loomed Against The Horizon Of My Life, Threatening To Devour Me, Simply Loomed And Nothing More. The Things That Have Really Made Me Miss My Train Have Always Been Sweet, Soft, Pretty, Pleasant Things Of Which I Was Not In The Least Afraid.

Pray That Success Will Not Come Any Faster Than You Are Able To Endure It.

Congratulations

Die, V.: To Stop Sinning Suddenly.

As We Grow Better, We Meet Better People.

I Will Gladly Lecture For Fifty Dollars, But I'll Not Be A Guest For Less Than A Hundred.

The Trouble With Many Married People Is That They Are Trying To Get More Out Of Marriage Than There Is In It.

Constant Effort And Frequent Mistakes Are The Stepping Stones To Genius.

Theology, By Diverting The Attention Of Men From This Life To Another, And By Endeavoring To Coerce All Men Into One Religion, Constantly Preaching That This World Is Full Of Misery, But The Next World Would Be Beautiful - Or Not, As The Case May Be - Has Forced On Men The Thought Of Fear Where Otherwise There Might Have Been The Happy Abandon Of Nature.

Lawyers Are The Jackals Of Commerce.

Theology Is Classified Superstition.

Don't Lose Faith In Humanity; Think Of All The People In The United States Who Have Never Played You A Single Nasty Trick.

Unleash Your Travel Beast .... Explore The World. It's Time To Begin Your Next Adventure! No Man Needs A Vacation So Much As The Person Who Has Just Had One.

I Believe In The Hands That Work, In The Brains That Think, And In The Hearts That Love...i Believe In Sunshine, Fresh Air, Friendship, Calm Sleep, Beautiful Thoughts.

Do Not Dump Your Woes Upon People — Keep The Sad Story Of Your Life To Yourself. Troubles Grow By Recounting Them.

To Have A Full Stomach And Fixed Income Are No Small Things .

We Find What We Expect To Find, And We Receive What We Ask For.

Life Is A Movement Outward, An Unfolding.

It Is A Fine Thing To Have Ability, But The Ability To Discover Ability In Others Is The True Test.

Falling In Love Is The Beginning Of All Wisdom, All Sympathy, All Compassion, All Art, All Religion; And In It's Larger Sense Is The One Thing In Life Worth Doing.

A Little More Persistence, A Little More Effort, And What Seemed Hopeless Failure May Turn To Glorious Success.

Men Who Sit Back And Pride Themselves On Their Culture Haven't Any To Speak Of.

Most People Like Hard Work, Particularly When They're Paying For It.

The Happiness Of This Life Depends Less On What Befalls You Than The Way In Which You Take It.

How Many A Man Has Thrown Up His Hands At A Time When A Little More Effort, A Little More Patience Would Have Achieved Success.

Genius May Have Its Limitations, But Stupidity Is Not Thus Handicapped.

An American Religion: Work, Play, Breathe, Bathe, Study, Live, Laugh, And Love.

One Can Play Comedy, Two Are Required For Melodrama, But A Tragedy Demands Three.

The Secret Of Success Is This: There Is No Secret Of Success.

Don't Make Excuses, Make Good.

History: A Collection Of Epitaphs.

There Is A Joy In Going Without Things, A Fine Tang In Eliminating The Superfluous.

I Have No Perfect Panacea For Human Ills. And Even If I Had I Would Not Attempt To Present A System Of Philosophy Between The Soup And Fish.

Life Consists In Molting Our Illusions. We Form Creeds Today Only To Throw Them Away Tomorrow. The Eagle Molts A Feather Because He Is Growing A Better One.

Parties Who Want Milk Should Not Seat Themselves On A Stool In The Middle Of The Field In Hope That The Cow Will Back Up To Them.

Theology Is An Attempt To Explain A Subject By Men Who Do Not Understand It. The Intent Is Not To Tell The Truth But To Satisfy The Questioner.

Telling The Truth

What People Need And What They Want May Be Very Different.... Teachers Are Those Who Educate The People To Appreciate The Things They Need.

The Valuable Person In Any Business Is The Individual Who Can And Will Cooperate With Others.

Pessimist: One Who Has Been Intimately Acquainted With An Optimist.

You Can Go Wrong By Being Too Skeptical As Readily As By Being Too Trusting. You Can Lead A Boy To College But You Cannot Make Him Think.

Do Your Work With Your Whole Heart, And You Will Succeed - There's So Little Competition.

Time Is An Illusion-to Orators.

If Put To The Pinch, An Ounce Of Loyalty Is Worth A Pound Of Cleverness.

Loyal Customers

Where Much Is Expected From An Individual, He May Rise To The Level Of Events And Make The Dream Come True.

Live Truth Instead Of Professing It.

It Does Not Make Much Difference What A Person Studies-all Knowledge Is Related, And The Man Who Studies Anything, If He Keeps At It, Will Be Learned.

Mystic: A Person Who Is Puzzled Before The Obvious, But Who Understands The Non-existent.

Luck Is Tenacity Of Purpose.

Jealousy Seems The Absolute Reversal Of Love. It Is The Swinging From The Sunny Warmth Of The Equator To The Frigid Cold Of The North Pole.

In These Days, A Man Who Says A Thing Cannot Be Done Is Quite Apt To Be Interrupted By Some Idiot Doing It.

A Conservative Is A Man Who Is Too Cowardly To Fight And Too Fat To Run.

There Is Something That Is Much More Scarce, Something Finer Far, Something Rarer Than Ability. It Is The Ability To Recognize Ability. The Sternest Comment That Can Be Made Against Employers As A Class Lies In The Fact That Men Of Ability Usually Succeed In Showing Their Worth In Spite Of Their Employer, And Not With His Assistance And Encouragement.

No Great Spiritual Event Befalls Those Who Do Not Summon It.

Money Never Made A Fool Of Anybody; It Only Shows Them Up.

An Ounce Of Performance Is Worth More Than A Pound Of Preachment.

You Had Better Be A Round Peg In A Square Hole Than A Square Peg In A Square Hole. The Latter Is In For Life, While The First Is Only An Indeterminate Sentence.

Football: A Sport That Bears The Same Relation To Education That Bullfighting Does To Agriculture.

The Average Man Plays To The Gallery Of His Own Self-esteem.

Anyone Who Idolizes You Is Going To Hate You When He Discovers That You Are Fallible. He Never Forgives. He Has Deceived Himself, And He Blames You For It.

The Finest Friendships Are Between Those Who Can Do Without Each Other.

There Is No Failure Except The Failure Of Trying.

If You Want Work Well Done, Select A Busy Man - The Other Kind Has No Time.

Who Are The Happiest People On Earth? A Craftsman Or Artist Whistling Over A Job Well Done. A Little Child Building Sand Castles. A Mother, After A Busy Day, Bathing Her Baby. A Doctor Who Has Finished A Difficult And Dangerous Operation, And Saved A Human Life. Happiness Lies In A Constructive Job Well Done. Get Your Happiness Out Of Your Work Or You Will Never Know What Happiness Is.

The Cure For Grief Is Motion.

Faith Is The Effort To Believe What Your Common Sense Tells You Is Not True.

The Product Of The Head, Heart And Hand Is A Thing To Be Loved.

The Greatest Mistake You Can Make In Life Is Continually Fearing That You'll Make One.

I Pray That I May Never Meddle, Interfere, Dictate, Give Advice That Is Not Wanted, Or Assist When My Services Are Not Needed. If I Can Help People, I'll Do It By Giving Them A Chance To Help Themselves; And If I Can Uplift Or Inspire, Let It Be By Example, Inference And Suggestion, Rather Than By Injunction And Dictation. That Is To Say, I Desire To Be Radiant -- To Radiate Life!

The Average Man Believes A Thing First, And Then Searches For Proof To Bolster His Opinion

The Line Between Failure And Success Is So Fine That We Are Often On The Line And Do Not Know It. How Many A Person Has Thrown Up His Or Her Hands At A Time When A Little More Effort, A Little More Patience, Would Have Achieved Success. A Little More Persistence, A Little More Effort, And What Seemed Hopeless Failure May Turn To Glorious Success.

Morality Is The Thing Upon Which Your Friends Smile, And Immorality Is The Thing Upon Which They Frown

Miracle: An Event Described By Those To Whom It Was Told By Men Who Did Not See It.

Every Quarrel Begins In Nothing And Ends In A Struggle For Supremacy.

Responsibility Is The Price Of Freedom.

The Path Of Civilization Is Paved With Tin Cans.

If Men Will Not Act For Themselves, What Will They Do When The Benefit Of Their Effort Is For All?

The Teacher Is The One Who Gets The Most Out Of The Lessons, And That The True Teacher Is A Learner.

Laughter Is Higher Than All Pain.

Little Minds Are Interested In The Extraordinary; Great Minds In The Commonplace.

Dreams Can Come True, But There Is A Secret. They're Realized Through The Magic Of Persistence, Determination, Commitment, Passion, Practice, Focus And Hard Work. They Happen A Step At A Time, Manifested Over Years, Not Weeks.

When You Once Attribute Effects To The Will Of A Personal God, You Have Let In A Lot Of Little Gods And Evils - Then Sprites, Fairies, Dryads, Naiads, Witches, Ghosts And Goblins, For Your Imagination Is Reeling, Riotous, Drunk, Afloat On The Flotsam Of Superstition. What You Know Then Doesn't Count. You Just Believe, And The More Your Believe The More Do You Plume Yourself That Fear And Faith Are Superior To Science And Seeing.

The Friend Is The Man Who Knows All About You, And Still Likes You.

I Believe That The Best Way To Prepare For A Future Life Is To Be Kind, Live One Day At A Time, And Do The Work You Can Do Best, Doing It As Well As You Can.

One Day At A Time

I Believe It Is Possible That I Shall Make Other Creeds, And Change This One, Or Add To It, From Time To Time, As New Light May Come To Me.

I Believe The Universe Is Planned For Good.

This Will Never Be A Civilized Country Until We Spend More Money For Books Than We Do For Chewing Gum.

Picture In Your Mind The Able, Earnest, Useful Person You Desire To Be, And The Thought You Hold Is Hourly Transforming You Into That Particular Individual You So Admire

I Believe The Only Way We Can Reach The Kingdom Of Heaven Is To Have The Kingdom Of Heaven In Our Hearts.

Enthusiasm Is Like Having Two Right Hands.

Service Culture

The Finest Flowers Are Those Transplanted, For Transplanting Means Difficulty, A Readjusting To New Conditions, And Through The Effort Put Forth To Find Adjustment Does The Plant Progress.

The Thing We Fear We Bring To Pass.

Formal Religion Was Organized For Slaves: It Offered Them Consolation Which Earth Did Not Provide.

Dignity Is A Mask We Wear To Hide Our Ignorance.

Cultivate Only The Habits That You Are Willing Should Master You

I Wish To Live Without Hate, Whim, Jealousy, Envy, And Fear. I Wish To Be Simple, Honest, Frank, Natural . . To Face Any Obstacle And Meet Every Difficulty Unabashed And Unafraid.

Nothing Is Permanent But Change.

Tragedy And Comedy Are Simply Questions Of Value; A Little Misfit In Life Makes Us Laugh; A Great One Is Tragedy And Cause For Expression Of Grief.

The Newspapers Print What The People Want, And Thus Does The Savage Still Swing His Club And Flourish His Spear.

Your Enemy Is One Who Misunderstands You; Why Should You Not Rise Above The Fog And See His Error And Respect Him For The Good Qualities You Find In Him?

The Woman Who Cannot Tell A Lie In Defense Of Her Husband, Is Unworthy Of The Name Of Wife.

What Boy Well Raised Can Compare With Your Street Gamin Who Has The Knowledge And The Shrewdness Of A Grown-up Broker.

The Best Preparation For Good Work Tomorrow Is To Do Good Work Today.

The Average Woman Sees Only The Weak Points In A Strong Man, And The Good Points In A Weak One.

As A Rule, The Man Who Can Do All Things Equally Well Is A Very Mediocre Individual.

If You Work For A Man, In Heavens Name Work For Him! If He Pays You Wages That Supply Your Bread And Butter, Work For Him, Stand By Him, And Stand By The Institution He Represents.

The Best Way To Prepare For Life Is To Begin To Live.

If It Was Woman Who Put Man Out Of Paradise, It Is Still Woman, And Woman Only, Who Can Lead Him Back.

Fear Is The Thought Of Admitted Inferiority.

Gossip Is Only The Lack Of A Worthy Memory.

A Legal Or Religious Ceremony By Which Two Persons Of The Opposite Sex Solemnly Agree To Harass And Spy On Each Other... Until Death Do Them Join.

Folks Who Never Do Any More Than They Get Paid For, Never Get Paid For Any More Than They Do

Men Who Marry For Gratification, Propagation Or The Matter Of Buttons Or Socks, Must Expect To Cope With And Deal In A Certain Amount Of Quibble, Subterfuge, Concealments, And Double, Deep-dyed Prevarication.

Be Pleasant Until Ten O'clock In The Morning And The Rest Of The Day Will Take Care Of Itself.

A Retentive Memory May Be A Good Thing, But The Ability To Forget Is The True Token Of Greatness.

Life Is A Paradox. Every Truth Has Its Counterpart Which Contradicts It; And Every Philosopher Supplies The Logic His Own Undoing.

Politicians Regard The Public As A Cow To Be Milked

A Person Born With An Instinct For Poverty.

Insomnia Never Comes To A Man Who Has To Get Up Exactly At Six O'clock. Insomnia Troubles Only Those Who Can Sleep Any Time.

Often We Can Help Each Other Most By Leaving Each Other Alone; At Other Times We Need The Hand-grasp And The Word Of Cheer.

The Artist Needs No Religion Beyond His Work.

Every Man Is A Damn Fool For At Least Five Minutes Every Day; Wisdom Consists In Not Exceeding The Limit.

Self-discipline Is The Ability To Make Yourself Do What You Should Do, When You Should Do It, Whether You Feel Like It Or Not.

Man Is Creation's Masterpiece. But Who Says So?

I Am Not Sure Just What The Unpardonable Sin Is, But I Believe It Is A Disposition To Evade The Payment Of Small Bills.

Library: A Place Where The Dead Lie.

What People Need And What They Want May Be Very Different.

Life Is A Voyage, And We Are All Sailing Under Sealed Orders. We Plan, Plot, Scheme And Arrange, And Some Fine Day Fate Steps In And Our Dreams Are Tossed Into The Yeasty Deep. We Grin And Bear It--anyway We Bear It: It Is The Only Thing To Do.

Men Are Only As Great As They Are Kind.

No Matter How Long You Live, Die Young.

Reversing Your Treatment Of The Man You Have Wronged Is Better Than Asking His Forgiveness.

Human Service Is The Highest Form Of Self-interest For The Person Who Serves.

In The Life Of Darwin By His Son, There Is Related An Incident Of How The Great Naturalist Once Studied Long As To Just What A Certain Spore Was. Finally He Said, "it Is This, For If It Isn't, Then What Is It?" And All During His Life He Was Never Able To Forget That He Had Been Guilty Of This Unscientific Attitude, For Science Is Founded On Certitude, Not Assumption.

Love Is Not Really Blind- The Bandage Is Never So Tight But That It Can Peep.

A Good Front Is Half The Battle In Love Or War.

Fortitude: That Quality Of Mind Which Does Not Care What Happens So Long As It Does Not Happen To Us.

I Do Not Read A Book; I Hold A Conversation With The Author.

God Looked Upon His Work And Saw That It Was Good. That Is Where The Clergy Take Issue With Him.

When A Man Sends You An Impudent Letter, Sit Right Down And Give It Back To Him With Interest Ten Times Compounded, And Then Throw Both Letters In The Wastebasket.

If You Work For A Man, In Heavens Name Work For Him! If He Pays You Wages That Supply You Your Bread And Butter, Work For Him Speak Well Of Him, Think Well Of Him, Stand By Him And Stand By The Institution He Represents. I Think If I Worked For A Man I Would Work For Him. I Would Not Work For Him A Part Of The Time, And The Rest Of The Time Work Against Him. I Would Give An Undivided Service Or None. If Put To The Pinch, An Ounce Of Loyalty Is Worth A Pound Of Cleverness.

Every Knock Is A Boost.

Laws That Do Not Embody Public Opinion Can Never Be Enforced.

It Is A Curious Fact That Of All The Illusions That Beset Mankind None Is Quite So Curious As That Tendency To Suppose That We Are Mentally And Morally Superior To Those Who Differ From Us In Opinion.

A Little More Patience, A Little More Charity For All, A Little More Devotion, A Little More Love; With Less Bowing Down To The Past, And A Silent Ignoring Of Pretended Authority; Brave Looking Forward To The Future With More Faith In Our Fellows, And The Race Will Be Ripe For A Great Burst Of Light And Life.

Strength And Strength's Will Are The Supreme Ethic. All Else Are Dreams From Hospital Beds, The Sly, Crawling Goodness Of Sneaking Souls.

Wealth Is An Engine That Can Be Used For Power, If You Are An Engineer; But To Be Tied To The Fly Wheel Of An Engine Is Rather A Misfortune.

The World Is Moving So Fast These Days That The Man Who Says It Can't Be Done Is Generally Interrupted By Someone Doing It.

Life Without Absorbing Occupation Is Hell; Joy Consists In Forgetting Life.

Not Only Does Beauty Fade, But It Leaves A Record Upon The Face As To What Became Of It.

Progress Comes From The Intelligent Use Of Experience.

Wise Man: One Who Sees The Storm Coming Before The Clouds Appear.

The Difference In Men Does Not Lie In The Size Of Their Hands, Nor In The Perfection Of Their Bodies, But In This One Sublime Ability Of Concentration: To Throw The Weight In One Blow, To Live Eternity In An Hour.

The Wise Way To Benefit Humanity Is To Attend To Your Own Affairs, And Thus Give Other People An Opportunity To Look After Theirs.

When On The Brink Of Complete Discouragement, Success Is Discerning That...the Line Between Failure And Success Is So Fine That Often A Single Extra Effort Is All That Is Needed To Bring Victory Out Of Defeat.

I Believe In Salvation Through Economic, Social, And Spiritual Freedom.

I Would Rather Be Able To Appreciate Things I Can Not Have Than To Have Things I Am Not Able To Appreciate.

A Committee Is A Thing Which Takes A Week To Do What One Good Man Can Do In An Hour.

The Heroic Man Does Not Pose; He Leaves That For The Man Who Wishes To Be Thought Heroic.

The Teacher Is One Who Makes Two Ideas Grow Where Only One Grew Before.

We Are Not Punished For Our Sins, But By Them.

The Hundred-point Man Is One Who Is True To Every Trust; Who Keeps His Word; Who Is Loyal To The Firm That Employs Him; Who Does Not Listen For Insults Nor Look For Slights; Who Carries A Civil Tongue In His Head; Who Is Polite To Strangers Without Being Fresh; Who Is Considerate Toward Servants; Who Is Moderate In His Eating And Drinking; Who Is Willing To Learn; Who Is Cautious And Yet Courageous.

Action Is Thought Tempered By Illusion.

As A Career, The Business Of An Orthodox Preacher Is About As Successful As That Of A Celluloid Dog Chasing An Asbestos Cat Through Hell.

Be Yourself And Think For Yourself, And While Your Conclusions May Not Be Infallible They Will Be Nearer Right Than The Inclusions Forced Upon You By Those Who Have A Personal Interest In Keeping You In Ignorance.

There Are Three Sides To Every Question-where A Divorce Is Involved.

No Man Should Dogmatize Except On The Subject Of Theology. Here He Can Take His Stand, And By Throwing The Burden Of Proof On The Opposition, He Is Invincible. We Have To Die To Find Out Whether He Is Right.

Burden Of Proof

Orthodoxy: That Peculiar Condition Where The Patient Can Neither Eliminate An Old Idea Nor Absorb A New One.

Freedom Is A Condition Of Mind, And The Best Way To Secure It Is To Breed It.

Victory; A Matter Of Staying Power.

It Is Easy To Get Everything You Want, Provided You First Learn To Do Without The Things You Cannot Get.

The Reward Of A Good Deed Is In Having Done It.

Polygamy: An Endeavour To Get More Out Of Life Than There Is In It

The Brain Is A Commodity Used To Fertilize Ideas.

Art Is The Beautiful Way Of Doing Things. Science Is The Effective Way Of Doing Things. Business Is The Economic Way Of Doing Things.

The Sculptor Produces The Beautiful Statue By Chipping Away Such Parts Of The Marble Block As Are Not Needed - It Is A Process Of Elimination.

No Good Sensible Working Bee Listens To The Advice Of A Bedbug On The Subject Of Business.

Friendship, Like Credit, Is Highest When It Is Not Used.

An Executive Is One Who Makes An Immediate Decision And Is Sometimes Right

The Home Is A Tryst-the Place Where We Retire And Shut The World Out.

If You Suffer, Thank God! It Is A Sure Sign That You Are Alive.

World Suffering

The Man Who Doesn't Relax And Hoot A Few Hoots Voluntarily, Now And Then, Is In Great Danger Of Hooting Hoots And Standing On His Head For The Edification Of The Pathologist And Trained Nurse, A Little Later On.

It Is The Weak Man Who Urges Compromise - Never The Strong Man.

Destruction, Violence, Ravages, Murder, Are Perpetrated By Statute Law.

Trending Author

David Rockefeller

Category