Active Listening Quotes

I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.

You ain't learning nothing when you're talking.

These are two different exercises. One of them is, "You don't know and I know, so just shut up and listen," and the other one is, you're curious and you're learning, and I have a way where you can learn this so you'll know it as well. And when you know it, and know why you know it, then you don't have to reference me ever again because you take ownership of the knowledge, and you can then share it with someone else.

I learned real early why God gave us two ears and one mouth, because you're supposed to listen twice as much as you talk.

The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen the more and talk the less.

We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.

You make more friends by becoming interested in other people than by trying to interest other people in yourself.

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.

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

Become genuinely interested in other people.

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

So if you aspire to be a good conversationali st, be an attentive listener. To be interesting, be interested. Ask questions that other persons will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and their accomplishments

If we want to be heard we must speak in a language the listener can understand and on a level at which the listener is capable of operating.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

So if you aspire to be a good conversationali st, be an attentive listener.

Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking where they should be listening.

You want to get both sides of the story and it's my role to try and bring that out of people.

It is very hard, that necessity of listening to a man who says nothing

When someone really hears you without passing judgment on you, without trying to take responsibility for you, without trying to mold you, it feels damn good. . . . When I have been listened to and when I have been heard, I am able to re-perceive my world in a new way and to go on. It is astonishing how elements which seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens. How confusions which seem irremediable turn into relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard.

When I listen to a record, or when I'm making a record, I listen to everything. I listen to the drums, the bass, the voice, the arrangement. I listen to the whole piece as an ensemble. I don't only listen to the guitar player.

When you want to hear a philosopher, do not say, 'You say nothing to me'; only show yourself worthy or fit to hear, and then you will see how you will move the speaker.

You can observe a lot by watching.

Be a listener only, keep within yourself, and endeavor to establish within yourself the habit of silence, especially in politics.

Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply.

The greatest skill that I have is what the viewer has: I listen. I try to listen silently.