A penny for your thoughts #24 (quote by Abigail Van Buren)
Words touch us all in different ways. Sometimes the original intent of a quote resonates so profoundly with us that it is hard to believe that another wrote it. Other times it is a single word, peculiar phrasing, or an alternative meaning regarding an event in our lives that resonates the most. I believe in the power of starting the the week off with a positive or provoking thought -- and so was created A Penny For Your Thoughts. This is a weekly blog hop that will feature quotes of all kinds; classics, character, book-movie, personal, etc. The themes will range from funny to serious, but really it all depends on how you interpret it! How does this work?
- Every Sunday a quote will be posted
- Enter the giveaway by posting your thoughts on a post of your own or the comment section below.
- Collect the pennies! Every week there will be a penny to collect and include with your post, if you choose.
- RAFFLE ENTRY: Your site or comment needs to be submitted to this form as well so that your name can be uploaded to a raffle generator.
- On the last Saturday of every month the entries from the form above will be entered in a drawing. Winner will be notified on Sunday. You get as many entries as you have pennies for the month. Prizes will include books, gift cards, site promotion, and other bookish winnings!
- Have fun! This is a fun way to start some discussion, discover blogs, and get to know more people. Please re-post these steps so that followers understand the process.
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| The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back. -- Abigail Van Buren Featured by The Book Cove |
My thoughts...
Abigail Van Buren is the author of the popular news column "Dear Abby". The name was a pen name for Pauline Phillips and was then passed down to her daughter Jeanne Phillips. One of my first pretending-to-be-an-adult memories was reading the Dear Abby column in our small-town paper. I always found Abby's responses to readers' questions to be real. At 12ish years old I don't think I knew what I meant by real, but today I realize that real stood/stands for no BS. Abby didn't try to sugar coat things and if she thought the person was out of line, she clearly said so.
There are so many popular quotes and pieces of advice floating around today that came from the pen of Pauline, and now Jeanne, and this is one of those quotes. Last week's A penny for your thoughts topic was along the lines of "Who are you when no one is watching?" and I think this is very similar. How do you treat people when you're in a fantastic mood versus when you've had a horrible Monday? How does your character on a majority of days compare to your character on other days? Being slap-happy, selfless and honorable one-hundred percent of the time isn't realistic...at least for me. But I'd like to think that people can forgive a few curt remarks or behaviors based on knowing that I'm not like that a majority of the time.
Unfortunately, knowing the everyday character of all of the people around us is not the case. We run into strangers everyday and make judgement based on if they held the gas station door open behind them or let it slam in our face. How do we know that wasn't their minority bad-day character? We don't. But it can bring self-awareness. How often to we not check the door behind us? Or not care if a person is there? Is that number of events in our majority or minority of days? How is that changing others' perception of us? Importantly, do you care? I know I do.
There are so many popular quotes and pieces of advice floating around today that came from the pen of Pauline, and now Jeanne, and this is one of those quotes. Last week's A penny for your thoughts topic was along the lines of "Who are you when no one is watching?" and I think this is very similar. How do you treat people when you're in a fantastic mood versus when you've had a horrible Monday? How does your character on a majority of days compare to your character on other days? Being slap-happy, selfless and honorable one-hundred percent of the time isn't realistic...at least for me. But I'd like to think that people can forgive a few curt remarks or behaviors based on knowing that I'm not like that a majority of the time.
Unfortunately, knowing the everyday character of all of the people around us is not the case. We run into strangers everyday and make judgement based on if they held the gas station door open behind them or let it slam in our face. How do we know that wasn't their minority bad-day character? We don't. But it can bring self-awareness. How often to we not check the door behind us? Or not care if a person is there? Is that number of events in our majority or minority of days? How is that changing others' perception of us? Importantly, do you care? I know I do.
Other Posts Of Interest:
Remember to check your follow links regularly - November 22nd, 2014
5 easy tips for making your blog more user friendly for blog hops - December 27th, 2013
CAPTCHA challenge presented by The Book Wheel and The Relentless Reader - August 16th, 2013
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