Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
No one wants advice - only corroboration.
Interpretation
People often seek validation for their own thoughts rather than genuine advice.
In this quote, John Steinbeck highlights a common human tendency where individuals prefer to hear support for their own opinions instead of receiving advice or alternative viewpoints. It suggests that instead of being open to external guidance, many people simply desire affirmation of their existing beliefs, reflecting the challenges in communication and understanding among individuals.
In practice
During a team meeting, you can use this quote to emphasize the importance of validating team members' ideas.
Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
At one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
When we put the pen to paper, we articulate things in our life that we may have felt vague about. Before you write about something, somebody says, 'How do you feel?' and you say, 'Oh, I feel okay.' Then you write about it, and you discover you don't feel okay.
This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.
NVC self-forgiveness: connecting with the need we were trying to meet when we took the action that we now regret.
Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! Why do you stay in prison When the door is so wide open?
The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy. The Buddha gave up the pleasures of life because they had become painful to him.
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