Catherine the Great Quotes

To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education - literacy, both verbal and numerical, and communication skills.

…she was discovering once again that reading and writing were not the same — you couldn't just soak it up then squeeze it out again.

Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn.

Self-control, openness, the ability to engage with others, to plan and to persist - these are the attributes that get people in the door and on the job, and lead to productive lives.

There is a time to speak and a time to listen, and sometimes people need to shut up.

I would argue that education, actual learning - it is hard work. It's very personal. Your parents don't teach you anything. Your teachers don't teach you anything. The government doesn't teach you anything. You read it. You don't understand it; you read it again. You break a pencil and read it again.

It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.

I want to see children curled up with books, finding an awareness of themselves as they discover other people's thoughts. I want them to make the connection that books are people's stories, that writing is talking on paper, and I want them to write their own stories. I'd like my books to provide that connection for them.

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting.

The problem with being a writer/director: unless you're really disciplined, you start adding projects, and you have to make time to make them. Because you have to write them... no one else is writing them for me.

I know how to work with people. I've worked with the same people for 10 years. I'm not that kind of auteur. I hear ideas.

A reading man and woman is a ready man and woman, but a writing man and woman is exact.

There is as much wisdom in listening as there is in speaking - and that goes for all relationships, not just romantic ones.

It's hard to watch something go on and be talking at the same time.

When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.

I can be a good listener. I can ask the right questions a lot of the time.

You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk.

You've got to be an observer. And you've got to take time to listen to people, talk, to watch what they do.

There was one point in high school actually when I was on the chess team, marching band, model United Nations and debate club all at the same time. And I would spend time with the computer club after school. And I had just quit pottery club, which I was in junior high, but I let that go.

Having two ears and one tongue, we should listen twice as much as we speak.

The very essence of modern life is the opportunity for people everywhere to speak, hear, persuade, change their minds, know what others are thinking, and think for themselves.

I'm a very strong believer in listening and learning from others.

Anyone who doesn't read doesn't have any business writing.

In order to practice dialogue, you need to be able to set aside your assumptions and try to listen more than you want to talk. It's not always politically correct to be able to do that, but it can give you a better sense of the reality.