4 ms·

I've heard a variant of this as "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."

by rudiger 16y ago

corin_ 16y ago
While that's a good quote, it's not quite relevant for people such as waiters. In my experience, being polite and tipping generously regularly gets me a speedier and more pleasant service. Sometimes it won't make a difference, sometimes it will make even more of a difference, such as a free drink or two, but more often than not it does have a positive impact on the service you receive. That's true not just with waiters, but in many service situations - for example, in Oxford (a fairly small city with fairly low numbers of taxis required) a lot of the drivers know me, and when I call for a ride it takes a taxi, in my experience, roughly half the average time to arrive, simply because the drivers on duty know that I will be a pleasant customer and a good tipper. Getting better service shouldn't be a neccesary reason to treat people well, but it's certainly a nice bonus.
- rudiger 16y ago
  In fact, that's why I was careful to call it a variant; my sentiments are the same as yours. I'm actually happy that you've articulated the distinction.
_delirium 16y ago
Trying to dig up the source for this quote leads to quite an array of people it's been attributed to! So far I've turned up variants sourced to: Abigail van Buren (the old name of "Dear Abby"), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a Reader's Digest letter-writer named James D. Miles, and Malcolm S. Forbes. Most of the attributions are questionable, though (e.g. I haven't found anybody actually pointing to where in Goethe's works such a quote can be found).
raganwald 16y ago
..and the brilliantly insightful but ironic quote: I don’t hire people who have to be told to be nice. I hire nice people.--Leona Helmsley
uxp 16y ago
In case you were curious of a source, this link cites Ann Landers as the author. http://quotationsbook.com/quote/40407 http://quotationsbook.com/quote/40407

I've heard a variant of this as "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."

by rudiger 16y ago

I've heard a variant of this as "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."

While that's a good quote, it's not quite relevant for people such as waiters. In my experience, being polite and tipping generously regularly gets me a speedier and more pleasant service. Sometimes it won't make a difference, sometimes it will make even more of a difference, such as a free drink or two, but more often than not it does have a positive impact on the service you receive. That's true not just with waiters, but in many service situations - for example, in Oxford (a fairly small city with fairly low numbers of taxis required) a lot of the drivers know me, and when I call for a ride it takes a taxi, in my experience, roughly half the average time to arrive, simply because the drivers on duty know that I will be a pleasant customer and a good tipper. Getting better service shouldn't be a neccesary reason to treat people well, but it's certainly a nice bonus.

rudiger 16y ago
In fact, that's why I was careful to call it a variant; my sentiments are the same as yours. I'm actually happy that you've articulated the distinction.

_delirium 16y ago

Trying to dig up the source for this quote leads to quite an array of people it's been attributed to! So far I've turned up variants sourced to: Abigail van Buren (the old name of "Dear Abby"), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a Reader's Digest letter-writer named James D. Miles, and Malcolm S. Forbes. Most of the attributions are questionable, though (e.g. I haven't found anybody actually pointing to where in Goethe's works such a quote can be found).

raganwald 16y ago

..and the brilliantly insightful but ironic quote: I don’t hire people who have to be told to be nice. I hire nice people.--Leona Helmsley

uxp 16y ago

In case you were curious of a source, this link cites Ann Landers as the author. http://quotationsbook.com/quote/40407 http://quotationsbook.com/quote/40407