That’s an excellent way to take that quotation, but note that it’s probably actually derived from a famous prayer ascribed to St Francis of Assisi in which it surely isn’t referring to what one should to in order to convince someone else of something.
(The prayer almost certainly has nothing much to do with St Francis, other than maybe being inspired by something written by one of his associates. But that’s not important right now.)
The “Seek First to Understand” quote comes from Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 4), who meant it in kind of a hybrid way that has to do with both the “give first” idea of St. Francis as well as the “Changing People’s Minds” idea I mention above.
That’s an excellent way to take that quotation, but note that it’s probably actually derived from a famous prayer ascribed to St Francis of Assisi in which it surely isn’t referring to what one should to in order to convince someone else of something.
(The prayer almost certainly has nothing much to do with St Francis, other than maybe being inspired by something written by one of his associates. But that’s not important right now.)
The “Seek First to Understand” quote comes from Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 4), who meant it in kind of a hybrid way that has to do with both the “give first” idea of St. Francis as well as the “Changing People’s Minds” idea I mention above.
retracted