- 12 Dec. 2004 (Holiday 2004)
- Beware of rude and abusive people who love their mouths more than they love you. The holidays are not a time to spend with people who disapprove of your life and choices and can’t shut up about it for just a few days a year.
— J. E. Brown
- 02 Jan. 2005: New Year’s Resolution for 2005
- Take the pledge with me: In order to protect the sanctity of good relationships, and to be a good example for others,
I will not have relationships with abusive people.
I will not start any.
If I am in a relationship with an abusive person, I will not continue it.
— J. E. Brown
- 17 Jan. 2005
- The belief that it’s OK to insult others is what keeps many people single. — J. E. Brown
- 24 Jan. 2005
- Consider this: Anyone who tries to settle a disagreement with you by telling you to be more flexible
is in fact less flexible than you are.
— J. E. Brown{You’re reading "Thought of the Week" by J. E. Brown.}
- 07 Feb. 2005
- One danger of associating with abusive people is that sooner or later you end up constantly on your guard, afraid that everyone will abuse you.
— J. E. Brown
- 21 Feb. 2005
- False accusations of wrongdoing are verbal abuse.
— J. E. Brown
- 07 Mar. 2005
- Forgiving those who are not sorry is a sign of desperation.
— J. E. Brown
- 25 Apr. 2005
- We get good at the things we practice. Last week, did you practice ways to be sarcastic to people? Or did you practice ways to make people feel good?
— J. E. Brown
- 16 May 2005
- Verbal abuse is not a form of play.
— J. E. Brown
- 06 Jun. 2005
- Verbal abuse is not a form of entertainment.
— J. E. Brown
- 27 Jun. 2005
- You cannot insult people into liking you.
— J. E. Brown
- 25 Jul. 2005
- You can’t be perfect enough for a perfectionist.
— glowlita
- 15 Aug. 2005
- Brutally honest is honestly brutal.
— J. E. Brown
- 12 Sep. 2005
- Abusive people will always pretend the victim is overreacting. It’s called a tactic.
— J. E. Brown
- 03 Oct. 2005
- Negotiation means figuring out what someone else wants in order to give you what you want. Negotiation does not mean talking at someone until he or she caves and unilaterally gives you what you want.
— J. E. Brown
- 24 Oct. 2005
- Breakups are common in the first few weeks of a relationship. Never start dating someone new within 4 weeks before a major holiday. A bad breakup will only leave you cranky when you should be happy, and if you’re called upon to be entertaining, your holiday will be ruined.
— J. E. Brown
- 23 Dec. 2005 (Holiday 2005)
- Beware of rude and abusive people who love their mouths more than they love you. The holidays are not a time to spend with people who disapprove of your life and choices and can’t shut up about it for just a few days a year. — J. E. Brown
- 09 Jan. 2006
- Beware of those dangerous “Fatal Attraction” types of people, who insist that all breakups must be in person, and that it’s rude to break up with them by letter. This is just their way of tricking you into spending more time with them. Too many people are either physically or verbally dangerous, and so, you must put your own safety first.
— J. E. Brown
- 30 Jan. 2006
- Much rudeness is based on the belief “I’ve done that; therefore it couldn’t possibly be rude.”
— J. E. Brown
- 27 Feb. 2006
- “Everybody does it” is what everybody who does it says.
— J. E. Brown
- 20 Mar. 2006
- You are what you do.
— J. E. Brown
- 10 Apr. 2006
- Some people deny the Holocaust. Some people deny the existence of evil. Some people deny the existence of verbal abusers. Some people deny the reality of abuse victims. Different denials, but the mental defect is the same.
— J. E. Brown
- 01 May 2006
- Dropping hints is not communication.
— J. E. Brown
- 29 May 2006
- Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great.
— Mark Twain
- 19 Jun. 2006
- Polite conversation cannot be heard all over the neighborhood.
— J. E. Brown
- 10 Jul. 2006
- No valid point requires a thirty-minute lecture.
— J. E. Brown{Read this comp1ete article at http://jebrown.us/Relationshop/totw.html .}
- 07 Aug. 2006
- When you drive a car, do you cover your eyes and hope for the best?
Should you do the same when dating?
— J. E. Brown
- 04 Sep. 2006
- People will judge you by what you say, not by what you claim you meant.
— J. E. Brown
- 02 Oct. 2006
- What is hateful to you, do not do unto others.
— Rabbi Hillel
- 23 Oct. 2006
- Beware of those who treat strangers better than family.
— J. E. Brown
- 20 Nov. 2006 (Thanksgiving 2006)
- Table manners do not develop character. Relationship education does.
— J. E. Brown
- 18 Dec. 2006 (Holiday 2006)
- Holidays are not the time to fix relationships. Holidays are a time to spend with people who have already done the maintenance work and now deserve to reap the fruits of that effort. Holidays are a time to spend with people who did the work year-round. Holidays are not a time to discover that the hurtful old behavior patterns never really stopped.
— J. E. Brown
- 22 Jan. 2007
- If you perceive other people’s sadness as an attack on you, you’re probably an abuser.
— J. E. Brown
- 19 Feb. 2007
- The Purpose of Friendship: The job of every friend and spouse is to improve your life, to add something good to it, to make your life fuller and happier than it would be otherwise. You should be better off with them than without them. Do your friends and spouse and family measure up to that standard? Do you?
— J. E. Brown {Read this comp1ete article at http://jebrown.us/Relationshop/totw.html .}
- 19 Mar. 2007
- Beware of people who tell you to be more stoic. Most such people have never had a serious problem, and so, they don’t understand yours.
— J. E. Brown
- 23 Apr. 2007
- In childhood, the rule of behavior is “If it annoys people, keep doing it.” In adulthood, the rule of behavior is “If it makes people happy, keep doing it.”
— J. E. Brown
- 21 May 2007
- People who care about what’s important to you are called friends. People who don’t...are not.
— J. E. Brown
- 25 Jun. 2007
- If verbal abuse had consequences, it would stop right now.
— J. E. Brown
- 23 Jul. 2007
- One reason why opinionated people tend to be single is that nobody feels safe confiding in them.
— J. E. Brown
- 13 Aug. 2007
- Much of what people call forgiveness is actually settling.
— J. E. Brown
- 03 Sep. 2007
- Rudeness ends relationships.
— J. E. Brown
- 08 Oct. 2007
- Some people learn their relationship skills by study and education. Others prefer to gain their knowledge by experimenting on live human subjects.
— J. E. Brown
- 12 Nov. 2007 (Thanksgiving 2007)
- Beware of people who keep bringing up the topic of your weight, who claim they’re concerned about your health. Anyone who nit-picks all three of these: your weight, your hair, and your clothing — is expressing disapproval of your appearance, not your health.
— J. E. Brown
- 18 Dec. 2007
- It’s important to have toxic people out of our lives, so that we can be fully available to the good people who need us.
— J. E. Brown
- 14 Jan. 2008
- The reaction is not the problem.
— J. E. Brown
- 10 Mar. 2008
- Financial Tip: The single most important thing you can do for your financial well-being is to study people skills, so that you can get along with others well enough to split the rent with them.
— J. E. Brown
- 07 Apr. 2008
- Beware of people who only give compliments as a preamble for a correction or a criticism. Such people will make you suspicious of all compliments.
— J. E. Brown
- 14 Jul. 2008
- Beware of those who believe in free will for themselves and fate for everybody else.
— J. E. Brown
- 18 Aug. 2008
- False accusations end friendships.
— J. E. Brown
- 01 Dec. 2008
- When you’re rude, you burn your bridges in front of you.
— J. E. Brown
- 12 Jan. 2009
- People tend to defend those whose guilt they share. In other words, the guilty defend the guilty.
— J. E. Brown
- 20 Jul. 2009
- Most denials are denials of the truth.
— J. E. Brown
- 14 Dec. 2009 (Holiday 2009)
- Refusing a gift of homemade food is an insult. I find it hard to believe that adults even need to be told this. — J. E. Brown
- 08 Feb. 2010
- If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. — Bishop Desmond Tutu
- 19 Apr. 2010
- No relationship is worth individual therapy. And by extension: If a relationship puts you into individual therapy, then you’ve paid the price of your freedom.
— J. E. Brown
- 17 May 2010
- Every minute you spend with an abusive person teaches you that people don’t respond to kindness. Is that a lesson you really want to learn?
— J. E. Brown
- 14 Jun. 2010
- The belief that others exist for our entertainment is the source of most interpersonal problems.
— J. E. Brown
- 07 Mar. 2014
- When you behave unpredictably, so will the people around you.
— J. E. Brown
- 17 Apr. 2014
- The best reason to unfriend bad people on Facebook: Your friend list is visible to others. People who see a bully or a bigot or a gossip on your friend list will assume you have no taste, no class, and poor judgment. They’ll wonder if *you* can be trusted.
— J. E. Brown
- 24 Feb. 2015
- Relationships are not about crisis management. They are about crisis prevention.
— J. E. Brown
- 11 Sep. 2015
- Ignore people who tell you “You can’t change other people.” As scientists and parents will tell you, consequences change actions.
— J. E. Brown
- 01 Jan. 2016: New Year’s Resolution Material:
- Do you reciprocate? Are your friendships based on equality? Do you initiate conversations, or do you just wait for other people to do it? Do you create opportunities for entertainment, or do you just wait for other people to do it? Are you happy to have the benefits flow in only one direction, or are you giving something in return? Are you a producer of friendships, or just a consumer?
— J. E. Brown
- 19 Mar. 2016
- Nobody likes popup ads. Popup ads waste your customers’ time, distract them from their errands, and send your customers fleeing to your competitors. Your competition thanks you, though.
— J. E. Brown
- 09 Jun. 2016
- A commercial asks, “Wouldn’t it be great if everyone said what they meant?” No! It wouldn’t! It’s called being tactless! It’s called behaving like a four-year-old!
— J. E. Brown
- 17 Nov. 2016
- Friends are not numbers. Friends are people you know by name, and interact with.
— J. E. Brown
- 13 May 2017: Summer Vacation Begins:
- Parents: Once your children have moved away to college, they are adults, and you treat them accordingly. You do not rummage and snoop through their belongings and their mail and their computers. You do not throw their belongings in the trash — that’s called theft. If you wouldn’t do it to the neighbors, you don’t do it to your adult children. Disrespect of boundaries has lifelong consequences.
— J. E. Brown
- 30 Oct. 2017
- Twitter went from 140 to 280 characters. Now if only PEOPLE could have twice as much character.
— J. E. Brown
- 17 Jul. 2018
- RESIST GLOBAL COARSENING
— J. E. Brown
- 29 Jan. 2021
- You ARE what you defend.
— J. E. Brown
- 03 Feb. 2022
- BAN BIGOTS, NOT BOOKS.
— J. E. Brown
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