method
is a singularly good one; that if He gives
me education, delight, pleasure, by leading
me to express myself, I shall be expressing
Him still further and still better if
I adopt His method with any one whom I
want to help. Instead of laying down laws,
preaching, arguing, why do I not try to
induce my friend, my pupil, my wife, my
child, to express himself? Why not try
to help him bring out his own ideas and
make them appear to him to be his own
discovery, his very own? As a matter of
fact, they will be, must be of his own
thinking if they are ever to be his at
all. I can only induce him to work the
mine that is in his own heart and to find
the treasure that already belongs to him.
How intensely practical is this method in everyday affairs! It is said that the way to become popular is to become a good listener. What is a good listener? A good listener is one who induces another to express himself, is he not? The road to popularity! Not a high goal, you say, popularity? Why not? To be truly popular is to be loved. If you love, you cannot avoid a return in kind. If you would have influence, you must in a sense be popular. So this method of God's is a road to popularity with my friend, with my wife, and with my child, with my pupil, with my boss, with my customer, with myself! A chance for self-expression is the chief delight of man's existence, and every one of us recognizes that fact in one way or another. We yearn to express ourselves, and we insist on expressing ourselves in various ways, from
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