Help others solve their problems; standing farther away, you can often see matters more clearly than they do. . . The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him or her help themselves.
Baltasar GracianRead
The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.
Interpretation
Power should be used to benefit others and create positive change.
This quote by Baltasar Gracian emphasizes that true power lies not in control or dominance, but in the ability to make a positive impact on the lives of others. It suggests that with power comes responsibility, and those in positions of authority should leverage their influence for the greater good and to effect meaningful change in society.
In practice
During a leadership seminar discussing the ethical use of authority.
Help others solve their problems; standing farther away, you can often see matters more clearly than they do. . . The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him or her help themselves.
It is a novel kind of supremacy, the best that life can offer, to have as servants by skill those who by nature are our masters.
Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.
Two kinds of people are good at foreseeing danger: those who have learned at their own expense, and the clever people who learn a great deal at the expense of others.
The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.
Aligning private development with community needs for equity and resiliency is one of the most powerful roles of city government.
We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers
Some of the best advice I've had comes from junior officers and enlisted men.
The team that trusts-their leader and each other-is more likely to be successful.
You have to take ownership and leadership of tomorrow. For that to be possible, you have to strengthen your capacity and widen your vision as a global citizen.
There's so much more involved with the game than just sitting there, looking at the numbers and saying, 'OK, these are my percentages, then I'm going to do it this way,' because that one time it doesn't work could cost your team a football game, and that's the thing a head coach has to live with, not the professor.
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