I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.
Haim GinottRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Treating people with respect and recognizing their potential helps them to improve and grow.
This quote emphasizes the importance of viewing people not just as they are, but as they have the potential to be. By treating individuals with the respect they deserve and believing in their capabilities, we inspire them to achieve their full potential rather than limiting them by their current behavior or circumstances.
Themes
PotentialGrowthRespectEncouragementRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to uplift a team, one might use this quote to encourage them to see the strengths in each other.
More from Haim Ginott
All quotes βMisbehavior and punishment are not opposites that cancel each other - on the contrary they breed and reinforce each other.
Haim GinottRead
Similar quotes
People tend to criticize their spouse most loudly in the area where they themselves have the deepest emotional need.
Gary ChapmanRead
Unless you are addressing the issues people are concerned about and contributing positive direction, they'll never support you. The first thing the enemy tries to do is isolate revolutionaries from the masses of people, making us horrible and hideous monsters so that our people will hate us
Assata ShakurRead
Citizenship to me is more than a piece of paper. Citizenship is also about character. I am an American. We're just waiting for our country to recognize it.
Jose Antonio VargasRead
If your Bible tells you that gay people ought not be married in your church, don't tell them they can't be married at city hall. Marriage is a civil rite as well a civil right, and we can't let religious bigotry close the door to justice to anyone.
Julian BondRead
One never can know the whys and the wherefores of one's passional changes.
D. H. LawrenceRead
In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth women are not merely "tolerated", they are valued.
Aung San Suu KyiRead