佚名/Anonymous
I walked with my friend to the newsstand the other night, and he bought a paper, thanking the newspaper seller politely. The vendor didn't even acknowledge it.
"A sullen fellow, isn't he?" I commented.
"Oh, he's that way every night," shrugged my friend.
"Then why do you continue to be so polite to him?" I asked.
"Why not?" inquired my friend. "Why should I let him decide how I'm going to act?"
As I thought about this incident later, it occurred to me that the important word was "act". My friend acts toward people; most of us react toward them.