Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down. — Wilson Mizner

Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down.

Author: Wilson Mizner

Insight: We usually think of kindness as something morally right, but this quote hints at something more practical—it's actually enlightened self-interest. The people you dismiss or overlook today might be exactly the people you need tomorrow. That colleague you barely acknowledged could end up being your boss. The freelancer you underpaid might run the company that hires you. Life has a way of shuffling the deck unpredictably. But there's something deeper here too. The real insight isn't just about karma or calculation. When you treat people poorly, you're usually doing it because you've decided they don't matter to your future. You're making a judgment about their usefulness. The problem is, you're also training yourself to see people that way—as useful or disposable. That habit of mind doesn't just disappear when your circumstances change. It sticks around, making you meaner and more anxious, always scanning for who matters and who doesn't. Being genuinely decent to everyone isn't just smart strategically; it's actually easier. It means you get to stop keeping score.

Source: The New Yorker, Profiles: Legend of a Sport – Part I by Alva Johnston, October 10, 1942