Musing on a quote…

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.”
– Hermann Hesse

I have heard this quote before, and rejected it. “That just can’t be true,” I thought. When I hate people, or traits, I hate them because they are Unlike me, I thought.
Reading this quote again today made me revisit the argument. This time, I suppose I have to admit I agree with it. Reluctantly. When I am irritated by the laziness of others, it is because I berate myself for being lazy. When I am put off by the arrogance of others, I can see the arrogance in myself if I turn the focus.
This is a rather humbling realization.

Nifty quote..

I am reading Tuesdays with Morrie, borrowed from a co-worker. In it, I found an inspiring quote that relates to my last post. It is,

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” – Henry Adams.

Isn’t that true, if you stop to think about it? Don’t you feel that at least one teacher, for better or worse, has impacted who you are as a person to this very day? I can name several, both inspiring and un.