The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Business men are to be pitied who do not recognize the fact that the largest side of their secular business is benevolence. ... No man ever manages a legitimate business in this life without doing indirectly far more for other men than he is trying to do for himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Benevolence is essential in business as it benefits others more than just oneself.
Henry Ward Beecher highlights the importance of benevolence in business, suggesting that true success is not only measured by personal gain but also by the positive impact one has on others. He argues that businesses should be operated with a mindset of benevolence, as the well-being of others plays a crucial role in the legitimacy and success of any enterprise, implying that helping others leads to greater fulfillment in business.
Themes
BenevolenceBusinessSuccessHelping OthersImpact
In practice
Example use cases
In a business conference discussing corporate social responsibility, this quote could inspire leaders to integrate benevolence into their business models.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes →A man who cannot get angry is like a stream that cannot overflow, that is always turbid. Sometimes indignation is as good as a thunderstorm in summer, clearing and cooling the air.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
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