William McKinley, president of the United states from 1897 to 1901, was considering which of two equally competent men to appoint to an important post when he recalled an incident that had occurred on a stormy night many years ago. He had boarded a streetcar and taken the last empty seat at the rear. At one point an old washerwoman carrying a heavy basket boarded the car, and stood in the aisle. One of the men McKinley was now considering for the post had been sitting right in front of the woman, but shifted his newspaper in such a way as to seem not to see her. McKinley went down the aisle, picked up the basket of washing, and led the woman to his seat.
"The candidate never knew," said McKinley's friend Charles Dawes, "that this little omission of kindness had deprived him of that which would have crowned his ambition of a lifetime."
威廉．馬京利一八九七年到一九○一年任美國總統。有一次，他得在兩個同樣能幹的人之中，挑選一人擔任要職，正感為難，忽然想起多年前一個雨暴風狂之夜，他登上電車，見只餘一個空位在車尾，就坐下來。不久，一個洗衣老婦拿着重重一籃衣服上車，站在通道上。馬京利考慮委任的一人，當時正坐在那老婦跟前，卻把手上報紙稍稍挪移，遮着視線，假裝看不見那老婦。馬京利走上前，提起那籃衣服，帶着老婦到自己的座位。
馬京利的朋友查理．道斯說：「那人不知道，由於稍欠同情心，他失去機會攀上一生事業的最高點。」