“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. 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.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Credits: Quote – creatingaquietmind, Image – Artchipel
Live & Learn 
Oh, you win, David…. Your words, and attitudes, are magnificent….
Well done to you…! Good to see you return, unscathed and fresher than ever..!
LikeLike
Thank you Carolyn!
LikeLike
Amazing combination of imagery and words. Beautiful, powerful
LikeLike
I so agree Mimi.
LikeLike
Magic in the midst of a maelstrom–David, you never disappoint!
LikeLike
Maelstrom, love that word. Thank you Lori, you too don’t disappoint. I need another maelstrom to be able to drop that word. 🙂
LikeLike
So many important messages in this quote .. thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
I agree Laurie.
LikeLike
My first reaction after the opening three sentences was that this was fluffy bluster. My reaction after finishing the entire post was that it was a piece of magnificent inspiration. Thanks for sharing this. Glad that you are o.k.
LikeLike
Goethe? “Fluffy bluster” – hmmmm. Certainly glad you did jump away after the first few lines. Yes, powerful quote from the great man. Thanks Susan, everything here (even w/o power) is fine all things considered.
LikeLike
So this one has been clanking in my head all morning – like Susan, my first reaction was negative – self-centeredness, self-importance – but it’s kind of getting to me in a really humbling, horrifying way. Yikes.
LikeLike
There you go again Pal, going down and dark. (We Twinners perhaps?) Perhaps you operate at 75% of optimal state and you just have a short way to go.
LikeLike
Sure. Let’s go with that.
LikeLike
Now we’re talking!
LikeLike
Very profound. It’s all up to us!
LikeLike
Yes it is Anneli.
LikeLike
Great quote…first time I read it. Believe he was totally on track. It’s a personal decision how you start & make the day for you and others around you.
LikeLike
No worries. Youngest siblings have been found to be the slowest. 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t know how I missed this post. At any rate, excellent. And I agree with comments above including the pairing of imagery with quote.
LikeLike
Thank you…
LikeLike
Hi David,
Did Haim Ginott “borrow” from this quote?
LikeLiked by 1 person
No idea! Sorry!
LikeLike