Several years ago a preacher moved to Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had occa－sion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally¹ given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, “You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.”
　　 Then he thought, “Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Any－way the bus company already gets too much fare²; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from the Lord and keep quiet.”
　　 When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change.”
　　 The driver with a smile, replied, “Aren’t you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking lately about going to worship³ somewhere. I just wanted to see what you would do, if I gave you too much change.”
　　 When he stepped off the bus, the preacher literally grabbed the nearest light pole, and held on, said, “Oh, Lord, I almost sold your spirit for a quarter.”
　　


　　几年前，一位传教士搬迁到德克萨斯州的休斯顿。几星期后的一天，他从家乘坐公共汽车去闹市区。当他在座位上坐下来的时候，他发现司机无意中多找给他一枚25美分的硬币。当他考虑自己下一步该怎么做的时候，他心想：“你最好把这枚硬币还回去。留着它是错误的。”
　　 然后他又想：“噢，忘了吧，只不过是25美分。谁会在意这笔小钱？反正公交公司也已经挣得够多了，他们不会察觉的。把这当做上帝赐予的礼物接受吧，不要声张了。”
　　 当他该下车的时候，他在车门处停留了一下，然后，把那枚25美分的硬币递给了司机，说：“给你，你多找给我钱了。”
　　 司机微笑着回答：“你是市里新来的传教士吧？我最近一直在考虑去做礼拜的事。我只是想看看，如果我多找给你零钱，你会怎么做。”
　　 那位传教士一跳下公共汽车，就一把抓住最近的一根电线杆，抱住它说：“噢，上帝，我差点儿把你的精神以25美分的价格卖了出去。”
　　秋影 摘译自
　　Habits for Effective People