John Fowles Quotes

Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.

Communication is so key.

There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation.

The best thing I could say is you do have to be a really good listener. If I go to a family reunion, and there's 400 people there, everybody comes up and tells me their stories, right? And I think that when you're a good listener, and you can imagine how someone's talking, dialogue is your key friend, is it not?

It is astonishing how elements that seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens, how confusions that seem irremediable turn into relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard.

Change comes from listening, learning, caring and conversation.

When we talked, I talked about me, you talked about you, when we should have talked about each other.

Talking is good. Conversations have to be forever.

Speaking is half his that speaks, and half his that hears.

Good dialogue is very important.

Connecting with Canadians isn't about what you say, it's about what you're listening to. It's about what you understand.

The best way to persuade people is with your ears - by listening to them.

I see people in terms of dialogue and I believe that people are their talk.

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

Silence may be golden, but can you think of a better way to entertain someone than to listen to him?

The essence of conversation is not which media format we choose to talk to each other with, so we don't differentiate between snaps and chats. It's just someone wanting to talk to you.

One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.

Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.

In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand.

It's important for me who is at the table with me; the moment when everyone speaks to each other and everyone listens. If there's good food, it's much better.

When I'm doing a one-on-one with somebody, I have to speak in a language that that person can understand, using a vocabulary that they instantly get, and I always have to feel my way around to figure that out. It's a lot of fun, and it's also really challenging - challenging in a different way from performing.

As I say, I'm a discourse advocate. What form it comes is less important to me than the fact that there is discourse.

I like talking one-on-one to everyone. I find it really sort of cathartic and interesting to hear people's opinions.

I've always been very aware of what I'm saying, but I'm also aware of what you're saying. I always want to make sure that my point is clear.

The longer we listen to one another - with real attention - the more commonality we will find in all our lives. That is, if we are careful to exchange with one another life stories and not simply opinions.