It Is Not What You Say, But How You Say It ...

A king once dreamed that all his teeth had fallen out. He was naturally concerned about his dream, so the next morning he sent for a soothsayer to interpret his dream for him.

The soothsayer listened to the king's dream, pondered over it for a moment, and then delivered this pronouncement: "Your Highness, the dream means that all your relatives will die and you will be left alone."

The king was furious at the soothsayer's interpretation, and he demanded the soothsayer be exiled.

Then the king called for a second soothsayer. This soothsayer listened to the king's dream, pondered for a moment, and then proclaimed: "Rejoice, O King! The dream means that you will live many more years. In fact, you will outlive all your relatives! LONG LIVE THE KING!"

This interpretation so pleased the king that he gave the interpreter a large purse of gold.

Essentially, the two soothsayers made the same prediction. But there was a big difference in HOW they delivered the message. As a result, there was a big difference in how the message was received.

The moral of the story is very clear: It's not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it that counts!

~ Author Unknown