Quotes About Listening

When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the world.

When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the world. How much better would people get along if their first encounter each day were like this—instead of a grumble from a waitress or a bus driver or a boss?

So many people with far smaller problems are so self-absorbed, their eyes glaze over if you speak for more than thirty seconds.

And slowly a discussion begins - as Morrie has wanted all along - about the effect of silence on human relations. Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?

Those who sat with him saw his eyes go moist when they spoke about something horrible, or crinkle in delight when they told him a really bad joke. He was always ready to openly display the emotion so often missing from my baby boomer generation. We are great at small talk: 'What do you do?' 'Where do you live?' But really listening to someone -- without trying to sell them something, pick them up, recruit them, or get some kind of status in return -- how often do we get this anymore?

He told his friends that if they really wanted to help him, they would treat him not with sympathy but with visits, phone calls, a sharing of their problems - the way they had always.. because Morrie had always been a wonderful listener.

In any conversation, I was taught, there are at least three parties: you, the other person, and the Lord. I

to pay attention when your loved ones are speaking, as if it were the last time you might hear them.

I want to tell him to be more open, to ignore the lure of advertised values, to pay attention when your loved ones are speaking, as if it were the last time you might hear them.

And slowly a discussion begins as Morrie has wanted all along—about the effect of silence on human relations. My are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?

El Maestro: Do not attack the strings, Francisco. Francisco Presto: No, Maestro. El Maestro: Coax them. Francisco Presto: Yes, Maestro. El Maestro: Make them hunger for your next note. Same as in life. Francisco Presto: In life, Maestro? El Maestro: When you want someone to listen to you, will you attack them? Francisco Presto: No, Maestro. El Maestro: No, you will not. you will make them hear the beauty of what you are offering, and they will want it for themselves.

Dor remembered Victor's voice. And while they deepen with age, voices are, to one destined to listen for eternity, as distinct as a fingerprint. Dor knew it was him the moment Victor spoke in the shop.

Everything in this world is music if you can hear it. Make a joyful noise, the psalm says.

You cannot talk when you first arrive. He smiled. It helps you listen.

Your voice will come. We all go through the same thing. You cannot talk when you first arrive." He smiled. "It helps you listen

She listened to me speak with a series of smiles, as though she were sipping at my descriptions and finding them to her taste

But if you do not wish to speak, I do not wish to hear.

Sandor waited. Sometimes the most important work was done in the silences.

What is it about silence that makes people uneasy?

Do not say you agree, disagree, or suspend judgement until you can say "I understand

Reading a book is a kind of conversation. You may think it is not conversation at all, because the author does all the talking and you have nothing to say. If you think that, you do not realize your full obligation as a reader—and you are not grasping your opportunities.

The mistake here is to suppose that receiving communication is like receiving a blow or a legacy or a judgment from the court. On the contrary, the reader or listener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball.

So far as I know, anything worth hearing is not usually uttered at seven o'clock in the morning; and if it is, it will generally be repeated at a more reasonable hour for a larger and more wakeful audience.

Milly's narrative skill was considerable... she brought a scene to life by a chance descriptive detail in the right place and by that graphic and right placing of words which most of the Irish excel at. She had no Irish blarney, she never exaggerated. I could listen to Milly for hours.