Magnus Scheving Quotes

You can't be preachy - kids are allergic to messages.

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

Let us agree here today to adopt among ourselves a simple and unwritten rule. We will not rise to criticize someone else's idea unless we are prepared to offer an alternative idea of our own.

I don't want just attitude and loud opinion.

Dialogue can be held with everyone. It is not necessary to be like-minded to hold talks, but it is compulsory to be right-minded.

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

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.

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.'

I try to be respectful of how other people think, I try to listen to what they're saying.

Avoid sarcasm. Don't insist on the last word.

With all respect, I'm sure that we have enough preachers in the world. Through my way of writing, I was capable of being able to say these things and yet not make a person feel as though they're being preached at.

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.

It's not necessary with your friends to discuss something you know you will disagree profoundly on.

I don't believe in condescending to children. I don't change any writing technique.

When you're in a conversation, genuinely be in it. Stare people in their eyes. Know what you're talking about. Enjoy that moment.

Avoiding offense means that we don't accept each other as equals.

Missionaries must not ridicule the pagan idols, nor their manner of worship; but calmly reason with them always showing the utmost benevolence; that they ought not to expose the innocent customs of the country, but as far as possible become all things to all men.

The crucial part of a citizens' culture is learning to correct others without mistreating them or generating aggression. We need to create a society in which civility rules over cynicism and apathy.

We can argue and we can disagree, but we don’t need to poke our fingers in each other’s eyes in order to get our points across.

The first thing you’ve got to do in a community is listen, not talk.

The most difficult thing to do is to communicate the positive.

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.

You've got to be vulnerable when you're talking to kids. There's nothing worse than some adult standing up there just talking down to some kid. You can't work that way.

If I disagree with someone, I let them have their say and move on. I don't want to be the one to lecture.

I think you kind of facilitate civil conversation no matter how heated you think it could get by telling everybody and showing them that you mean what you say when you value all sides.