Quotes About Communication

She seems to think being cryptic is some kind of substitute for having a decent personality.

We specialize in story-- story is what defines us, what brings people together

Damn it, Lou!' Two hours later, Cam pounded at the steering wheel of his SUV, which was parked in my driveway. 'Stop being so dramatic. I can't second-guess every fucking word that flies out of my fucking mouth. If you pick, pick, pick at every goddamn little thing and ignore what I'm really trying to say, you're the one that's not respecting me enough to listen.

Pete was getting on the others' nerves. It wasn't that he did anything wrong: he was a nice guy and a good enough drummer. It was simply that his personality was different: he preferred to sit on his own rather than join in with the others' non-stop banter.

Although George was quieter than the others too, when it came to banter he could give as good as he got. Just when you thought he wasn't listening to one of John's wicked teases he'd shoot back a withering line that had everyone in stitches.

But when John began to bring Yoko to recording sessions and consult her about everything he did there, even allowing her to criticize what they were doing, it was too much for the others. They hated it, and it was clear that the arrangement wouldn't last amicably for long.

John had just released "Imagine," the song that would become an international anthem for peace, telling the world to "live as one," yet he couldn't pick up the phone, make peace with me and arrange to see his own son. Surely, I reasoned, Julian meant more to him than some foolish agreement with Yoko about dealing with each other's ex-partner. I was wrong. It was three years before John saw Julian again.

choosing words is harder than I thought.

One problem with agreeing to keep a secret is that it always starts off feeling like an easy, little decision. But it doesn't stay easy or little. it sits there like one of those jagged ledges hiding under the surface of the ocean at high tide—quietly waiting to rip everything apart if you forget, for even a second, it's there.

Jason tilts his head toward me, his hand moving slyly across his book. Stupid. Speech. Woman.

Cathrine pretty today. I nod, yes it's a very pretty day. Jason touches my arm. Cathrine pretty.

When you say something stupid, gloss over it with superfast talking and maybe no one'll notice.

Sometimes people don't answer because they didn't hear you. Other times it's because they don't want to hear you.

One thing I know about being in a three-way friendship is that you'd better not let the other two spend too much time without you, or it turns into a two-way friendship, minus you.

If you say something over and over and over, maybe they'll give in to shut you up.

Leaving out isn't the same as lying.

You can yell on a playground, but not during dinner.

I imagined Dad beside me: "It's pretty," he'd say. "But pretty isn't enough for a great photograph. Show me why I care. What's the story?

I work from a different theory. For everything there's a bad way of describing, also a good way. You pick the good way, you get along better.

Lie, illusion, deception, she said--was that it truly, the universal language we all speak?

It is almost impossible for a parent to hold a secret from a child. Children, without the skills of language, spend years developing instead an intuition. By the time they are fifteen, as I was, they are masters of a kind of clairvoyance that tells them, He is depressed, He is frightened, He is pleased.

When you're speaking to HR, no matter how friendly they may seem, you're still speaking to an agent of the corporation, with all that this implies. The very fact that you've chosen to give the information to an agent of the company means the information belongs to the company.

If she couldn't partner with a boss, how could she partner with clients or an entire organization

I got to thinking—when it was too late—you have to reach out to people. To your family, too. You can't just let them sit there, you should put your hand out. If they slap it back, well you reach out again if you care enough. If you don't care enough, you forget about them, if you can.