Try Honestly to See Things From Other Person’s Point of View.
“Remember that other people may be totally wrong. But they don’t think so. Don’t condemn them. Any fool can do that. Try to understand them. Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people even try to do that.” (p. 202)
“There is a reason why the other man thinks and acts as he does. Ferret out that reason—and you have the key to his actions, perhaps to his personality. Try honestly to put yourself in his place. If you say to yourself, “How would I feel, how would I react if I were in his shoes?” (p. 202)
“If, as a result of reading this book, you get only one thing—an increased tendency to think always in terms of the other person’s point of view, and see things from that person’s angle as well as your own—if you get only that one thing from this book, it may easily prove to be one of the stepping-stones of your career.” (p. 207)
Example:
A husband often complained to the wife that she spent too much time working on the lawn and pulling weeds. He said it didn’t look better than 4 years ago. The wife got angry and it ruined their evening. The husband was not looking from her point of view. He didn’t realize she actually enjoyed working on the lawn and pulling weeds and hoped she would get complimented!
One day the wife asked the husband to help. The husband looked from her point of view and helped. He complimented her on how great the lawn looked and both became much happier.
A man scolded some boys about building a fire in a park which illegal. The boys probably would still start a fire when the man left. He tried a different strategy.
““Having a good time, boys? What are you going to cook for supper? … I loved to build fires myself when I was a boy—and I still love to. But you know they are very dangerous here in the park. I know you boys don’t mean to do any harm, but other boys aren’t so careful. They come along and see that you have built a fire; so they build one and don’t put it out when they go home and it spreads among the dry leaves and kills the trees. We won’t have any trees here at all if we aren’t more careful. You could be put in jail for building this fire. But I don’t want to be bossy and interfere with your pleasure. I like to see you enjoy yourselves; but won’t you please rake all the leaves away from the fire right now—and you’ll be careful to cover it with dirt, a lot of dirt, before you leave, won’t you? And the next time you want to have some fun, won’t you please build your fire over the hill there in the sandpit? It can’t do any harm there. … Thanks so much, boys. Have a good time.” (p. 205)
A lady was late on her car payment. She received a nasty phone call from the car company telling her they would take action if she didn’t pay. The lady tried to look at the situation from the man’s point of view. She sincerely apologized knowing she caused the man lots of hassle and trouble. She mentioned that it wasn’t the first time she was late. The man changed his tone and vented that other customers also didn’t pay. Then she told the lady she could pay in installments at a later date.