Treat All With Dignity And Respect

Once you become interested in others (BeInterestedInOthers) you begin to see that common thread of humanity that is the divine spark within each person. Each of us reflects the archetype of mankind (express the supergene ...) and have the right to be treated with the dignity and respect which that great archetype deserves. With every right goes a correlative duty and here the duty is to respect that right in others and in ourselves.

This could get too preachy obviously. When I was working in Minneapolis for Sperry, I heard a phrase that used to annoy me -- when you were talking to someone about wanting to do something on the program that they didn't want to do they would often say "I don't care." What they meant was that they didn't want to do it. I finally put a sign up on the partition behind my desk that said "If you don't care, you don't count!" [1]

You must first of all be intellectually and socially engaged. Intellectual engagement means seeking always to expand the store of your knowledge and understanding. Social engagement means always seeking to expand your store of knowledge and understanding of the people in your life, be they alive or dead.

See SaintsAndHeroes. --RaySchneider

For a similar take: "when you wish to be understood, SeekFirstToUnderstand".

[1] My sig is "Who cares, wins". I even try to live by it.... [The motto of the British SAS is "Who dares, wins".] -- Steve Merrick 24/02/2002