Wallace Stegner Quotes

In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.

No, Mom. I said fine." "It's just your tone." Ah, yes- the tone. The nasty traitor.

My radar, after all these years of sanity, is still off when it comes to what people do or don't mean.

Most of us do not use speech to express thought. We use it to express feelings.

You're never rude,' she said, smiling, 'and I think it's good to be touchy sometimes. It means you care.

Beneath words and logic are emotional connections that largely direct how we use our words and logic.

Whenever a man encounters a woman in a mood he doesn't understand, he wants to know if she's tired.

Listen with your eyes for feelings.

I don't think you learn how to act. You learn how to use your emotions and feelings.

Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.

The person you're playing must have feelings, but if he's not able to show them, then just the subtlest rumblings and nuances can say an incredible amount.

Here's the problem: People have completely and utterly forgotten one thing when it comes to communication - intent.

Crying is a kind of communication, and communication is awesome.

I love communicating non-verbally. I find great value in it.

Sometimes our passion will motivate us to say things that can easily be misunderstood.

Go another step. Try to live one entire day without words at all. Do it not as a law, but as an experiment. Note your feelings of helplessness and excessive dependence upon words to communicate. Try to find new ways to relate to tohers that are not dependent upon words. Enjoy, savor the day. Learn from it.

Nobody knows what another person is thinking. They may imagine they do, but they are nearly always wrong.

Words felt so clumsy when she was talking about feelings and not facts.

I think we can learn a lot about a person in the very moment that language fails them. In the very moment they they have to be more creative than they would have imagined in order to communicate. It's the very moment that they have to dig deeper than the surface to find words, and at the same time, it's a moment when they want to communicate very badly. They're digging deep and projecting out at the same time.

Understanding human nature. Perception. That's how I see acting - perception and communication.

Sorry for hurting you, she said right in my ear, but it wasn't really an apology, because you don't bite someone's earlobe to tell them you're sorry.

So why don't you tell him you're sorry?" Gaby suggested. "Uh... because he probably never wants to speak to me again?" "How do you know? Do you have a fifth sense too?" Scarlett sighed. "No. And I think that's sixth sense." "No, I don't see dead people. It's different.

Never assume people's motives. It's the easiest way to find yourself upset over nothing or misjudging people

During the actual filming, I’m not really listening to dialogue. I’m watching to see if the actors are communicating something and expressing something. I’m just watching a conversation. You’re not aware of exactly what people are saying. You are aware of what they are INTENDING and what kind of feeling is going on in that scene.

Ser compreendido é prostituir-se.