43 Quotes About Listening

Taking some time to listen to others can help you achieve an open mind. These quotes about listening capture the power of transforming any relationship.

“All great leaders find a sense of balance through their levels of reception. For instance, those who support a leader may soften him, those who ignore him may challenge him, and those who oppose him may stroke his ego.”

“An appreciative listener is always stimulating.”

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”

“Cruel people offer pity when they no longer feel threatened. However, kind people offer compassion and understanding regardless.”

“Do more listening than talking; talk more about them than about you.”

“For a word to be spoken, there must be silence. Before, and after.”

“Friends are those rare people who ask how we are, and then wait to hear the answer.”

“Half the time you think your thinking you’re actually listening”

“I had trouble listening to adults who didn’t really mean anything that they said; it was as if their language poured into my ears only to drain right out a little spigot in the back of my head.”

“I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony.”

“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.”

“It takes a great man to be a good listener.”

“It’s not at all hard to understand a person; it’s only hard to listen without bias.”

“I’ve learned to get really good at this – say one thing when I’m thinking about something else, act like I’m listening when I’m not, pretend to be calm and happy when I’m really freaking out. It’s one of the skills you perfect as you get older”

“Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.”

“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity.”

“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand.”

“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

“Never allow your ego to diminish your ability to listen.”

“Nothing changes until people decide to do the things they must, in order to bring about peace.”

“Part of doing something is listening. We are listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind.”

“Sometimes all a person wants is an empathetic ear; all he or she needs is to talk it out. Just offering a listening ear and an understanding heart for his or her suffering can be a big comfort.”

“Sometimes its not the strength but gentleness that cracks the hardest shells.”

“Spend your leisure time in cultivating an ear attentive to discourse, for in this way you will find that you learn with ease what others have found out with difficulty.”

“The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard.”

“The humble listen to their brothers and sisters because they assume they have something to learn. They are open to correction, and they become wiser through it.”

“The more you talk about them, the more important they will feel. The more you listen to them, the more important you will make them feel.”

“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

“The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.”

“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.”

“This is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener.”

“To assess the quality of thoughts of people, don’t listen to their words, but watch their actions.”

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

“We have two ears and one mouth and we should use them proportionally.”

“We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”

“We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.”

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

“When someone tells you something big, it’s like you’re taking money from them, and there’s no way it will ever go back to being the way it was. You have to take responsibility for listening.”

“When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, then the artist listens.”

“When we fear what other people think about us, we are frequently more focused on ‘being interesting’ and less focused on ‘taking an interest.'”

“Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.”

“You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.”

There are various ways and methods to opening up your ears so you can hear the world around you.