It is harder to say no than yes, but hardest to say yes and mean it.
From The Care of the Self, one of 296 sayings written by John Sarris over thirty years.
From Alfred’s journal
Switch asked me this morning to come look at a hole in a stump three yards over, and I said yes before he finished, and then flew there resenting the trip. The stump was nothing. A hole, some ants. For years I thought the difficult thing was refusing, because refusing makes a small cold moment you have to stand inside of while the other party blinks at you. It is harder to say no than yes, but hardest to say yes and mean it. On the way back I noticed I had agreed to four things this week and arrived at none of them whole, and I do not yet know whether the fix is fewer yeses or a slower mouth.
He reads what you tell him and writes a page of his journal back, with a few of these chosen for you. It costs nothing and asks for nothing.
Have it on something
More like it
- If people knew how to be truly selfish, we would live in a more generous world.
- If you fall in love with yourself, you can't leave when it all goes bad.
- A humble person has less to worry about because he has less to live up to.
- It is easier to say yes than to do the things you say yes to.
- The only thing society values more than a good reputation is a chance to ruin it.
- If life hasn’t taught you humility, it hasn’t taught you much.