The Elevator Principle
Crane said, “The world is starving for appreciation. It is hungry for compliments. But somebody must start the ball rolling by speaking first and saying a nice thing to his companion.” He embraced the sentiment of Benjamin Franklin, who believed, “As we must account for every idle word —so we must for every idle silence. ”
Evangelist D. L. Moody advised people to . . .
do all the good you can, to all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.
Author Frank Tyger says, “Friendship consists of a willing ear, an understanding heart and a helping hand.”
In Julius Caesar, playwright William Shakespeare ’s Cassius asserts, “A friend should bear his friend’s infirmities, / But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.”
Dividers are so damaging because unlike subtracters, their negative actions are usually intentional. They are hurtful people who make themselves look or feel better by trying to make someone else do worse than they do. As a result, they damage relationships and create havoc in people’s lives.
“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
John C. Maxwell, Winning with People: Discover the People Principles That Work for You Every Time (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Leadership, 2007).
Check out the Society of Mentors . This is a meeting of mentors who desire to personally grow while continually impacting others with reaching the world with the gospel.
