Quotes About Perspective

Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?

The difference between an optimist and a pessimist," said journalist Clare Boothe Luce, "is that the pessimist is usually better informed.

We are so used to our own history, we do not see it as remarkable or out of the ordinary, whereas others might see it as horrendous. Further, we tend to minimize that which we feel shameful about.

When I say I know something, I'm right 95% of the time; when I say I DON'T know something, I'm right 100% of the time!

You perhaps take up religion bitterly which you laughes at in your youth, well not actually laughed, but it wasn't your kind of truth.

And you perhaps take up religion bitterly which you laughed at in your youth, well not actually laughed but it wasn't your kind of truth.

I'm nostalgic. I miss childhood. I miss first grade. I miss thinking girls are gross. Do you know how much money I could save if I still thought girls were gross?

People don't enter conversations, work or social, with the same intentions. You must understand and cater to that.

However, if you use the phrase, "Yes, BUT…", you immediately come off as combative. You come off as if you're arguing with them or you are trying to correct them. This turns the conversation into a power struggle. Instead of an ally, you come off as an adversary obviously trying to take control of the agenda.

I matter as much as anyone else, and my perspective is valid. My thoughts, feelings and emotions are mine and are not wrong.

I'd rather be happy than be right." Probably

Most of us feel that we live in a reality we didn't choose. When we come across somebody who inspires us to rise above the limitations that we set for ourselves, we can't help but feel inspired.

When you guess, you're still stuck with your own personal biases and stereotypes. Understanding can only come from actually experiencing or viewing things from another person's truly distinct perspective.

Compassion, in an ideal sense, is your ability to put yourself in other people's shoes regardless of what they look like, regardless of what they believe, regardless of whether they believe in God or not, or which god they believe in, and regardless of whether they're male, female, or patriotic. As long as they're human beings, the ideal vision of compassion is being able to feel other people's pain.

The third story integrates elements of both stories, but casts no blame on either party.

if you give them the opportunity to create a three-dimensional identity for themselves, you might find aspects of them that you actually enjoy or admire—or at least defensible justification for why they are the way they are.

every story has a purpose and point, and it's almost always about how they were made to feel.

psychologist Susan Krauss Whitbourn suggests that, when asking for something, it is crucial to consider the person we are asking. Are their needs being considered? How can this request benefit them? Is this a good time to make such a request? If the tables were turned, how would I view this request?

Step out of your own head, and look at the world based on what's important to others.

I was just too focused on rehearsing what I wanted to say in my head, which prevented me from truly listening to others. I would listen to them, but ignore the signals and direction they were giving me and stubbornly proceed on my own path. I waited for my turn to speak

we tend to put people into three buckets: people that we are sure we like, people we don't know if we like, and people we don't like.

even if you follow these steps, sometimes people either aren't willing to engage or not good at opening up themselves. You can blast past this by using forms of elicitation, in which you put forth a topic or question in a way that a person will feel compelled to engage or elaborate. These take the form of prompting the person to reply to your recognition, encouraging mutual complaining, assisting your naiveté, and correcting your incorrect assumption or information.

We can't choose what happens around us. But we can always choose how we respond to our greater reality.

Larry: She doesn't want to be happy. Dan: Everybody wants to be happy. Larry: Depressives don't. They want to be unhappy to confirm they're depressed. If they were happy they couldn't be depressed anymore. They'd have to go out into the world and live. Which can be depressing.