Quotable Quotes: Trust
by Miki Saxon
Since several of next weeks posts involve the idea of trust in one form or another, I thought it would be a good topic for today’s quotes.
I tried to find some that weren’t the typical popular wisdom, such as, “Trust is like a vase… once it’s broken, though you can fix it the vase will never be same again.” Well, duh, never would have thought it, would you.
Then there are the silly ones, such as Pat Boone’s classic, “Don’t trust anyone over 30” or Henry David Thoreau’s “Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Self-trust is the first secret of success,” and Golda Meir elaborated on the idea when she said, “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” But as you follow this advice always remember what a wise person once said, “I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.” And most of all, as Duane Michals says, “Trust that little voice in your head that says “Wouldn’t it be interesting if..”; And then do it.”
Nobody will argue that to grow we need to learn and trust plays a large role in that, but not necessarily in the most obvious way.
It’s not just about who we trust, but about others trusting us or, as T.S. Eliot said, “Those who trust us educate us.”
Trust is a constant in any kind of management discussions. John Akers understood that and offers a short guide for managerial success, “Set your expectations high; find men and women whose integrity and values you respect; get their agreement on a course of action; and give them your ultimate trust.” But, as is often the case the best advice is anonymous, “Trust each other again and again. When the trust level gets high enough, people transcend apparent limits, discovering new and awesome abilities for which they were previously unaware.”
Leaders in positions of power are constantly invoking trust, which is really ridiculous, considering how often the abuse it. This has been remarked on many times throughout history, among them were
- “No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power.” –Charles Caleb Colton
- “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” –James Madison
- “You can’t trust anybody with power” –Newt Gingrich
I find Gingrich’s comment the most interesting considering his love affair with the halls of power and his personal pursuit of it.
So the next time you find yourself wondering if you should trust someone because they are in a certain position or espouse a similar philosophy remember the words of the elephant in Narnia, as written by C.S. Lewis,
““Smelling isn’t everything” said the Elephant.”Why,” said the Bulldog, “if a fellow can’t trust his nose, what is he to trust?” “Well, his brains perhaps,” she replied mildly.”
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagawi/3155400274/
