If animals could talk, the world would lose its best listeners.
—Robert Brault
Home is where you can say anything you like cause nobody listens to you anyway.
—Unknown
It takes a great man to be a good listener.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The art of effective listening is essential to clear communication, and clear communication is necessary to management success.
—James Cash Penney (1875–1971) American Entrepreneur
My first rule of conversation is this: I never learn a thing while I’m talking. I realize every morning that nothing I say today will teach me anything, so if I’m going to learn a lot today, I’ll have to do it by listening.
—Larry King (1933–2021) American TV Personality, Radio Personality, Journalist
A person hears only what they understand.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Listen to the mustn’ts, child.
Listen to the don’ts.
Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts.
Listen to the never haves,
then listen close to me…
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.
—Shel Silverstein (1930–99) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Short story Author, Playwright, Author, Songwriter
If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.
—Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857–1941) English Soldier, Founder of the Boy Scouts
A good listener is a silent flatterer
—Common Proverb
His thoughts were slow. His words were few and never formed to glisten. But he was a joy to all his friends, you should have heard him LISTEN!
—Unknown
Being listened to and heard is one of the greatest desires of the human heart.
—Richard Carlson (1912–77) American Actor, TV Personality, Film Director, Screenwriter
From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.
—Italian Proverb
Listening to people keeps them entertained.
—Mason Cooley (1927–2002) American Aphorist
You seldom listen to me, and when you do you don’t hear, and when you do hear you hear wrong, and even when you hear right you change it so fast that it’s never the same.
—Marjorie Kellogg (1922–2005) American Journalist, Novel, Playwright
I’m glad I understand that while language is a gift, listening is a responsibility.
—Nikki Giovanni (b.1943) American Poet, Writer, Activist, Educator
No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you’ll see why.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Lenin could listen so intently that he exhausted the speaker.
—Isaiah Berlin (1907–97) British Liberal Philosopher, Historian
When you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) Indian Philosopher
No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen.
—Yiddish Proverb
Big egos have little ears.
—Robert H. Schuller (1926–2015) American Christian Televangelist, Author
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
If you spend more time asking appropriate questions rather than giving answers or opinions, your listening skills will increase.
—Brian Koslow
A good listener is not someone with nothing to say. A good listener is a good talker with a sore throat.
—Katharine Whitehorn (b.1928) English Journalist, Writer, Columnist
It takes a great man to make a good listener.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) English Dramatist, Essayist
When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
Listen to everything, forget much, correct little.
—Pope John XXIII (1881–1963) Italian Catholic Religious Leader, Pope
Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
People will feel safer around you and speak truthfully to you when they feel you are listening intently to them.
—Brian Koslow
The young people who come to me in the hope of hearing me utter a few memorable maxims are quite disappointed. Aphorisms are not my forte, I say nothing but banalities…. I listen to them and they go away delighted.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation.
—Chinese Proverb
The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Man’s inability to communicate is a result of his failure to listen effectively.
—Carl Rogers (1902–1987) American Psychologist
Skillful listening is the best remedy for loneliness, loquaciousness, and laryngitis.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
The first duty of love is to listen.
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965) American Lutheran Theologian, Philosopher
Listening well and answering well is one of the greatest perfections that can be obtained in conversation.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
When a woman is speaking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
—American Indian Proverb
No man would listen to you talk if he didn’t know it was his turn next.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
You can judge a good listener by asking the talker at the end of the conversation what the listener’s position is on the topic. If the talker doesn’t know, then the listener has probably done a good job of listening.
—Unknown
Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we really listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other. We are constantly being re-created.
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985) American Journalist, Editor, Writer, Teacher
He listens well who takes notes.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we can hear twice as much as we say.
—Unknown
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while, he knows something.
—Wilson Mizner (1876–1933) American Playwright, Entrepreneur
One often reads about the art of conversation-how it’s dying or what’s needed to make it flourish, or how rare good ones are. But wouldn’t you agree that the infinitely more valuable rara avis is a good listener?
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
The art of conversation lies in listening.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson