Marianne Williamson Quotes

Skillful conversationalists can explore disagreements and make points in ways that feel constructive and positive rather than combative or corrective.

There's a way to speak your mind. You don't just go off and say whatever you feel is right. You have to say what you feel is right and say it if it's something that works for the team.

I have always had extraordinarily good relations with very conservative colleagues. And that's not because I agree with any of them or fudge on my positions, but people feel I listen to them and give them the benefit of the doubt. I assume the best of people. And that, I think, is an attitude that is maybe rare in politics.

Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.

At one time or another, we have all faced the temptation to disconnect by giving someone the silent treatment. After being married to Joel for more than twenty-one years, I have learned that is not the best way to handle a disagreement.

Listening is more important than talking. Just hit your mark and believe what you say. Just listen to people and react to what they are saying.

What advice do I tell my grandson? I listen to him.

I simply do not think that yelling, swearing, threatening or belittling will get you to the place you want to be faster than kindness, understanding, patience and a little willingness to compromise.

Tone is often the most important part of a conversation - and listening is so much more important than what you say.

Discussion: A method of confirming others in their errors

Usually, you can figure out where a person's mistakes came from if you ask them the genesis of their thought process: 'Why did you do it this way?' As opposed to telling them they did it the wrong way. Understanding their thought process will ultimately help you be able to communicate with them and navigate around them.

It's important to learn how to have conversations with other people where it's not debating but discussing.

I definitely learned a lot about how to be more communicative with my crews.

If your first objective in the negotiation, instead of making your argument, is to hear the other side out, that's the only way you can quiet the voice in the other guy's mind. But most people don't do that.

I can talk, I can express myself. But many times when people are talking just to talk, to say negative things, I don't like it because this is not a negative sport.

I think I say things nicely and my whole goal is to be understood and that includes by people who don't understand me.

When we would show any one that he is mistaken, our best course is to observe on what side he considers the subject,--for his view of if is generally right on this side,--and admit to him that he is right so far. He will be satisfied with this acknowledgment, that he was not wrong in his judgment, but only inadvertent in not looking at the whole case.

I don't just want to talk to the choir. I want to sit down and be respectful of the people who are most unlike me, to get them to hear me and think. It doesn't mean you're going to change them right there, but just so they can hear you and what you're saying.

In a Nutshell - Fundamental Techniques In Handling People; Principle 1 - Don't criticize, condemn or complain; Principle 2 - Give honest and sincere appreciation; Principle 3 - Arouse in the other person an eager want.

It is not nearly so important how well a message is received as how well it is sent. You cannot take responsibility for how well another accepts your truth; you can only ensure how well it is communicated. And by how well, I don't mean merely how clearly; I mean how lovingly, how compassionately, how sensitively, how courageously, and how completely.

Scolding must be very, very fun, otherwise children would be allowed to do it. It is not because children don’t have what it takes to scold. You need only three things, really. You need time, to think up scolding things to say. You need effort, to put these scolding things in a good order, so that the scolding can be more and more insulting to the person being scolded. And you need chutzpah, which is a word for the sort of show-offy courage it takes to stand in front of someone and give them a good scolding, particularly if they are exhausted and sore and not in the mood to hear it.

Be slow to criticize. And fast to APPRECIATE

I think communication is key, too. You're answering all the questions. Thank you. I'll just sit back here.

We often talk too much & listen too little. The surer route to winning a friend isn't to convince them that you're right, but that you care what they think.

If you can speak about what you care about to a person you disagree with without denigrating them or insulting them, then you may actually be heard.