TAKING AN INTEREST IN PEOPLE

There are things we like doing and enjoy talking about. But we also have to be prepared to take an interest in what interests the people we have to live and work with.

If you are taking an interest it will not happen often because you will find that people interest you whatever they happen to be doing or talking about.

Try to develop an enthusiasm within you. If you can feel strongly enough about something to take time and trouble over it, you can be sure that the zest will never depart from your life.

Enthusiasts are constantly up and doing. There are always people they want to meet, things waiting to be done, new fields to conquer.

Taking an interest in the people we meet should be based on fellow-feeling, not on any desire to poke and pry. All of us know what it is to feel tired, said, lonely, and to make fools of ourselves.

We have experienced what it means to be pleasantly surprised, wildly excited, deeply fond of someone. The fact that we share these as experiences with others, that they are common to mankind, should act as a bond between us and other people

People who do not take an interest in anyone or anything outside themselves find it hard to understand those who do. They want all the attention they get, begrudging anything they are called upon to do for others. Yet it is a remarkable paradox that when we take an interest without wanting, let alone expecting, anything in return, we get interest back fourfold.

People who are concerned only with themselves are not happy. They grow old and tired before their time. Conversely, if you are taking an interest in people and the things that are happening around you, you will not have the time to grow old. You will be far too absorbed in it all to bother about yourself.