David A. Bednar Quotes

I'm not joining in personal attacks... I don't do personal attacks.

People love to take sides, but it's not effective. It's not really an effective way of communicating something, because you're either already part of the side or you're going to feel attacked and get defensive.

Empathy is a necessary step for truth and reconciliation.

If I can make one generalised statement, and generalised statements are never entirely true, nobody wants to be talked down to, kids included.

The more we can get together and talk about various perspectives, feelings, beliefs, the better.

It's terribly important that you can criticise people's ideas without criticising them, and if they burst into tears, it means that you tend to hold back from getting at the absolute truth.

Hold on. It’s not a fight. It’s a discussion.

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

You can disagree without being disagreeable. That's always been my mantra.

If there were things I felt the White House needed to be doing differently, I'd probably call them. I have a saying, and I had this in Michigan as chair, which is, 'We're a family.' When you have a difference of opinion in your family, you don't go on 'Jerry Springer'; you pick up the phone, and you call your family member.

If and when they have a disagreement or argument, and if they can't resolve it, happy couples default to trusting and forgiving rather than distrusting and begrudging.

Let's cultivate an environment, not just in beauty pageants but in society in general, where we argue like we're right but listen like we're wrong.

It's always very important that you can completely disagree with someone, but it doesn't fundamentally mean that they are bad people.

As veterans we should be smarter about how we talk about things.

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

We must, all of us, learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise.

It's impossible to go through life not offending people. All you have to do is basically have an opinion on anything, and you're gonna offend people.

Criticize the act, not the person.

If you have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable, then you have discovered the secrete of getting along - whether it be business, family relations, or life itself.

Any time there is 'un-forgiveness' between people who love each other, there is suffering. Any time people face challenges that they really don't understand... there is suffering.

We can be fervent in our disagreements without being factitious with our beliefs.

I just don't believe that you have to come in and insult people when you want to change things.

To me, it's OK to have differences. But we don't have to be mad about it. You know? And I think that's where sometimes we get so passionate that we - you know, it turns into anger.

Whenever I've encountered a Christian saying, 'Why don't you stop talking like that so I can hear you?' I think, 'Well you're the one putting the earmuffs on, but I wish you could hear me because I like you.'

The motto should not be: Forgive one another; rather understand one another.