If you let a bully come into your garden one day, the next day he'll be up on your porch, and the day after that he'll rape your wife in your own bed.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Allowing aggression early on invites escalating violations of your safety and privacy later.
- In plain terms
- If you let someone be mean once, they will get worse and worse.
- What can you take from it?
- Set boundaries immediately to prevent escalation.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When have you let a small issue grow?
- How do you enforce boundaries?
Another view
Not all aggression escalates and direct action can sometimes worsen risk.
More from Lyndon Johnson
If you have had your foot on the neck of a man for three hundred years, and then take it off, do you expect him to get up and thank you?
Permalink to quote #21 My generals are always right about other people's wars and wrong about our own.
Permalink to quote #23 If two men agree on everything, you can be sure one of them is doing the thinking.
Permalink to quote #20
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