Quotes About Listening

Do not be arrogant because of your knowledge, but confer with the ignorant man as with the learned…. Good speech is more hidden than malachite, yet it is found in the possession of women slaves at the millstones.

In Sumerian,the word for ear and wisdom is the same. The ear, which is located mostly internally and is coiled like a spiral or labyrinth, takes in sounds and begins to transform the imperceptible into meaning. -Inanna–Queen of Heaven and Earth1

Be silent or let thy words be worth more than silence.

Learn silence. With the quiet serenity of a meditative mind, listen, absorb, transcribe, and transform.

That, in brief, is the problem—criticism as the first step in a discussion stops the discussion and is therefore, generally the last step as well. It is an entirely different matter if I hear the other person first, understand what she is trying to do, then talk with her about better ways to do it.

Our egos are often so hell-bent on getting our own ideas out that we can hardly wait for others to finish talking. What others are saying becomes a terrible interruption in what we are trying to say. In the process, we not only fail to understand what others are saying; we do not even hear them out. De Bono's description of parallel thinking aptly describes the kind of flow that is possible in a conversation where different ideas are allowed and encouraged:

The importance of having our ears dug open comes to us from the lips of Jesus: "He who has an ear, let him hear . . ." (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). We need to read God's Word, but we must also pray that He will blast through our granite-block heads so we truly hear His Word.

You have taught me to be still, so that I could move properly. You have taught me to listen, so that I can speak properly. You have taught me to see, so that I might not always be seen.

All my days have I grown up among the Sages and I have found naught better for a man than silence.

One of the things that makes God different from people is that God is always available to listen.

I prefer slow conversations where words are counted like pearls, conversation with many pauses, pauses replacing words. An Unnecessary Woman

You wanted people's stories, not them. You cared for the tale, not the teller.

He said you used him as a narrator, an interpreter of stories. I liked that term. I wondered if that was how you interacted with those around you. You wanted people's stories, not them. You cared for the tale, not the teller.

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.

Did you leave behind you your love, my heart, and miss peace through all your days? And is the path you followed lost and forgotten, making your return hopeless? I go roaming listening to brooks' babble, to the rustle of leaves. And it seems to me that I shall find the way, that reaches the land of lost love beyond the evening stars.

Your voice, my friend, wanders in my heart, like the muffled sound of the sea among these listening pines.

Don't look behind you. You have to trust in the Lord and hear what He's trying to tell you. What He's trying to teach you.

The discipline of the writer is to learn to be still and listen to what his subject has to tell him.

You can't tell your story to everybody, I said. Maybe you can only tell it to one person.

I had found out more, I said, by listening than I had ever thought possible.

She never said anything unless she had something important to express, which made you realise how much of what people generally said – and he included himself in this statement – was unimportant.

It is hard to listen while you were talking.

It was hard to listen while you were talking. I had found out more by listening than I had ever thought possible.

Democrats in 2020 can't just drive by red counties. You have to stop, get out of your car, ask for people's votes, and engage with them on issues that relate to their lives.