Sunday, August 26, 2012

Why is reserving judgements a "matter of infinite hope"? What does "infinite hope" mean?

First of all, it's important to understand what Nick does not mean by reserving judgment. He doesn't mean that we should never confront people over unacceptable behavior. What he means is that we should reserve final judgment on someone—that is, we should always be prepared to give them a chance to change their ways. In other words, we have infinite hope—hope that never dies—that people can change, even if it seems that they're incapable of it.
Judging people too harshly too quickly can have the exact opposite effect of what we intend, making it less likely that they will learn where they have gone wrong and what they need to do to make things right. Infinite hope can also refer to the belief we have in ourselves to be able to help others change for the better.

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