Harry Stack Sullivan Quotes

You should take notes whenever you hear interesting or original language.

There are skills you pick up on in a clinical environment in terms of how to ask questions, what to look for, how to listen that serve one well when trying to write.

People love to talk but hate to listen.

When two friends are in the mood to chat, we have to go about it in a gentler and more dialectical way. By 'more dialectical,' I mean not only that we give real responses, but that we base our responses solely on what the interlocutor admits that he himself knows.

Listening is totally different from hearing. Hearing, anybody who is not deaf can do. Listening is a rare art, one of the last arts. Listening means not only hearing with the ears but hearing from the heart, in utter silence, in absolute peace, with no resistance. One has to be vulnerable to listen, and one has to be in deep love to listen. One has to be in utter surrender to listen.

...people have character strength but they lack communication skills, and that undoubtedly affects the quality of relationships as well.

It seemed rather incongruous that in a society of super sophisticated communication, we often suffer from a shortage of listeners.

If I were just curious, it would be very hard to say to someone, I want to come to your house and have you talk to me and tell me the story of your life. I mean people are going to say, You're crazy. Plus they're going to keep mighty guarded. But the camera is a kind of license. A lot of people, they want to be paid that much attention and that's a reasonable kind of attention to be paid.

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

Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us.

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.

Skillful listening is the best remedy for loneliness, loquaciousness, and laryngitis.

I learn a great deal by merely observing you, and letting you talk as long as you please, and taking note of what you do not say.

In order to really understand, we need to listen, not reply. We need to listen long and attentively. In order to help anybody to open his heart we have to give him time, asking only a few questions, as carefully as possible in order to help him better explain his experience.

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.

We hear nothing so clearly as what comes out of silence.

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.

Listen twice as much as you speak.

People love to talk but hate to listen. Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller and richer.

Hearing is listening to what is said. Listening is hearing what isn't said.

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

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.

Effective listening is a professional achievement-achieved only through hard work.

Listening means forgetting yourself completely - only then can you listen.

"You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen - not just money, but respect.