Quotes About Communication

A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. We provide the music, and you provide the silence.

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.

We will live together sharing our way of life in order to see if we can live together. I shall grant you all your rights as a husband, a lover and a friend.

If you want a recipe for relationship failure, just wait for the other person to change first.

If you're married to an entrenched non-apologizer, it won't help to doggedly demand one. Some folks lack the self-esteem required to take responsibility for their less than honorable behaviors, feel remorse, and offer a heartfelt apology. And many people are so hard on themselves for the mistakes they make, they don't have the emotional room to admit vulnerability and apologize to a partner.

Anger is a signal, and one worth listening to.

Many marriages would be saved if we would only listen with the same passion that we feel about wanting to be heard.

Nothing you say can ensure that the other person will get it, or respond the way you want. You may never exceed his threshold of deafness.

It's remarkable how many couples can precisely describe their particular pattern of painful fighting, and claim to be helpless to change it.

Whole-hearted listening is the greatest spiritual gift you can give to the other person.

Wherever you find a wife and mother-in-law slugging it out, you'll find a son who's not speaking up to either his mother or his wife.

Request an apology when you believe you deserve one, but don't get in a tug of war about it. Instead, be a role model and tender a genuine apology yourself when an apology is due. Your willingness to apologize can be contagious and models maturity for your partner. Also, your non-apologizing partner may use a nonverbal way to reconnect after a fight, defuse the tension, or show you he's in a new place and wants to repair a disconnection. Accept the olive branch however it's offered.

Kids want nothing more than for all the important adults in their life to get along.

Relationships are most likely to fail when we don't address problems or hold our partner accountable for unfair or irresponsible behavior ... the ability to clarify our values, beliefs, and life goals--and then to keep our behavior congruent with them--is at the heart of a solid marriage.

Through words we come to know the other person--and to be known. This knowing is at the heart of our deepest longings for intimacy and connection with others. How relationships unfold with the most important people in our lives depends on courage and clarity in finding voice.

I'm a good example of wanting to apologize only for my precise share of a problem--as I calculate it, of course--and I expect my husband Steve to apologize for his share, also as I calculate it. Since we're not always of one mind on the math, it can lead to the theater of the absurd.

Whatever your sex fantasy is with your partner, consider it normal.

You can't evaluate a prospective partner if you insulate your relationship from your family and friends--and his.

Men are often (though not always) the pursuers for sex, just like women are often (though not always) the pursuers for conversation.

There are times when silence has the loudest voice.

Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers or your clients and customers.

Are you a good listener? Do you ask questions that help the other person become a better communicator? Do people feel comfortable around you, or do you dominate conversations?

Empathy requires us to step outside of our own agendas long enough to develop an understanding of the other person's perspective. It can be rightly stated that no relationship will be whole without ongoing displays of empathy.

Each difference in a relationship represents an opportunity for the participants to grow and stretch.