An old legend tells of an elderly Quaker gentleman who used to sit out by the well of his village greeting weary travelers as they came through town.  Everyone asked him, "What kind of people live here?"  He answered everyone with the same question, "What kind of people lived in the last place you visited?"  If the traveler said they left a place where the people were happy, friendly, and satisfied, the old Quaker would confidently say that the people in his village were much the same.  If the traveler complained that they had left a community where the people were always fighting, bad-tempered, and selfish, he would say to them, "Sadly, the people here are much the same."

        In other words, people react to us and treat us based on how we treat them.  If you're unfriendly, that's what you'll get in return.  If you pick a fight, most people will oblige you.  The opposite is also true.  If you want friendship and love, offer it first.  If you want respect, give it first.  As the "salt of the earth and the light of the world," we have to influence people rather than be influenced by them.

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