The "power" of a teacher

I would like to share with you what Hiam Ginott said about being a teacher, or the "power" of a teacher, rather:


"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a student's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a student humanized or de-humanized. "

Surprising, isn't it, how we teachers affect our students? It's really food for thought.