quotations about listening
When listening to another person, don't just listen with your mind, listen with your whole body. You are giving the other person space -- space to be. It is the most precious gift you can give.
ECKHART TOLLE
The Power of Now
Listening is the first step in making people feel valued.
REBECCA Z. SHAFIR
The Zen of Listening: Mindful Communication in the Age of Distraction
The aim of talk should be like the aim of a flying arrow -- to hit the mark; but to this end there must be a mark to hit, that is, there must be a listener.
CHARLES DICKENS
"The Art of Listening", All the Year Round
At a certain point, you say to the woods, to the sea, to the mountains, the world, Now I am ready. Now I will stop and be wholly attentive. You empty yourself and wait, listening.
ANNIE DILLARD
Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters
We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.
ZENO OF CITIUM
attributed, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
A man who won't listen can't hear.
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN
A Game of Thrones
Listening is an act of love.
DAVID ISAY
Listening Is an Act of Love
The final stage ... of listening is responding. All the effort involved in sensing, interpreting, and evaluating lead to this point, and the process of listening is not complete without it.
CHRIS BATTELL
Effective Listening
The talker has found a hearer but not a listener; and though he may talk his very best for his own sake, you will find that his mental movements are erratic: they have no fixed centre and no definite object. His talk is like the water of a canal whose banks have given way, which rolls aimlessly hither and thither, without fulfilling any useful function, though it is the same water which was so helpful and serviceable, when it was confined within clearly marked limits by the restraining force of its earthy boundaries.
CHARLES DICKENS
"The Art of Listening", All the Year Round
But yet she listen'd -- 'tis enough --
Who listens once will listen twice;
Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,
And one refusal no rebuff.
LORD BYRON
Mazeppa
Sometimes, being a good listener means listening to the silence in between words.
CHAD LOVE LIEBERMAN
The Bank of Knowledge
Listen if you would learn.
MYRDDIN
attributed, Day's Collacon
People love to talk but hate to listen. Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller and richer.
ALICE DUER MILLER
attributed, The Fieldbook of Team Interventions: Step-by-Step Guide to High Performance Teams
The worst of all listeners is the man who does nothing but listen.
CHARLES DICKENS
"The Art of Listening", All the Year Round
If both people and conversation are trying to be interesting, there is no one left to genuinely listen.
JOHN YOKOYAMA
When Fish Fly: Lessons for Creating a Vital and Energized Workplace from the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market
The word listening is defined as making an effort to hear something; to pay attention or heed. It is different from hearing, which is the physiological process of the ear absorbing sound waves and transferring them along neural pathways to parts of the brain. Hearing is necessary for listening, but listening is much more than processing sound. Someone may hear very well but be a very poor listener.
LISA J. DOWNS
Listening Skills Training
Listening is an intensive degree of hearing. We hear involuntarily; we listen with intention. Those who have sound ears cannot help hearing. We may hear persons talking without listening to what they say.
GEORGE FREDERICK GRAHAM
English Synonyms
Good listeners are active. They get involved with what they hear.
MARY MAYESKY
Creative Activities for Young Children
Whole-hearted listening is the greatest spiritual gift you can give to the other person.
HARRIET LERNER
Twitter post, April 16, 2014
Nobody really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see why.
MIGNON MCLAUGHLIN
The Second Neurotic's Notebook