Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Attributed to Goethe
Expectation is a kind of gift. Treat someone as capable and you hand them a version of themselves they can step into — often before they believe in it.
Try it on yourself. Speak to yourself as the confident English speaker you are becoming, not the nervous one you were. The address shapes the person.
Words that widen the world
Having the ability to do something.
Synonyms: able, competent, skilled
She was more capable than she believed.
Latent qualities that may be developed.
Synonyms: promise, capacity, possibility
He grew into his potential.
Common questions
It means treating people according to their potential, rather than their current shortcomings, helps them rise to meet it.
It is widely attributed to Goethe; because sourcing is uncertain, we mark it as attributed.
Carry it with you
In your own words, what does this thought mean to you? Write three or four sentences in English about a moment when it felt true — saying it yourself is how it stays with you.
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