Johann Kaspar Lavater Quotes

Listen twice as much as you speak.

I've always been very aware of what I'm saying, but I'm also aware of what you're saying. I always want to make sure that my point is clear.

[John F.] Kennedy was a great listener. As he listened his eyes got larger, and he looked at you, and you knew you had been looked at and listened to.

It's so easy to butt into a conversation and offer your own thoughts or opinions, but try not to interrupt. Instead, focus on what the other person is saying, think twice and be the person that listens. It's so much more valuable than constantly talking.

People love to talk but hate to listen.

There may be no single thing more important in our efforts to achieve meaningful work and fulfilling relationships than to learn to practice the art of communication.

The key ingredient in family communication is listening, really listening.

Were we as eloquent as angels we still would please people much more by listening rather than talking.

He did it (listened) as the world's most charming and magnetic people do, always asking the right question at the right time, never fidgeting or taking his eyes from the speaker's face, making the other guy feel like the most knowledgeable, brilliant, and intellectually savvy person on the planet.

A good listener is very nearly as attractive as a good talker. You cannot have a beautiful mind if you do not know how to listen.

Communication is the ability to ensure that people understand not only what you say but also what you mean. It is also the ability to listen to and understand others. Developing both of these aspects of communication takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work.

If someone is difficult to talk to, if someone cannot communicate clearly, it's a real problem in terms of their likelihood to work out.

I learned real early why God gave us two ears and one mouth, because you're supposed to listen twice as much as you talk.

You cannot talk to people successfully if they think you are not interested in what they have to say or you have no respect for them.

Silence isn't golden and it surely doesn't mean consent, so start practicing the art of communication.

Here is why I will be a good person. Because I listen. I cannot speak so I listen very well. I never interrupt, I never deflect the course of the conversation with a comment of my own. ...I beg of you, pretend you are a dog like me and LISTEN to other people rather than steal their stories.

Effective communication is fascinating to me yet bad communication is just as fascinating. There are lessons to be learned from both. I can't say I am a natural communicator, it's taken a lot of work to be able to develop content relevant to the audience and deliver it with credibility. My initial natural ability tended to be more around the visual display of information. For years I was more comfortable visualizing other people's great thinking. I preferred to be hidden behind the curtain than a thinker myself.

Most of the successful people I know mostly listen, not talk.

Gary Cooper - the greatest listener in the world! And he used to answer in kind, which is wonderful because you don't see that anymore. People don't listen. They really don't.

I'm glad I understand that while language is a gift, listening is a responsibility. (U.S. poet and writer, 1943- )

If you want to become a better listener, however you need to learn to direct that energy and attention positively by concentrating on the person you're with.

Listening well is an exercise of attention and by necessity hard work. It is because they do not realize this or because they are not willing to do the work that most people do not listen well.

Many people may listen, but few people actually hear.

I pride myself in listening. When you have people paying attention to you, your biggest job is to listen what they want. Deliver what your community wants.

To be alive is to listen quietly while other people talk. That's how you learn something.