And by listening, I don’t mean just keeping your food hole shut while they’re talking. I mean listening closely to what they’re saying so you can understand them. Empathy goes out the window when conversations become all about “winning” or pointing out the weaknesses in another’s arguments. The 41 listening quotes in this post can help make you a more empathetic and understanding listener.
41 of the Best Listening Quotes
“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.” – Bernard M. Baruch “ Listening to others viewpoints may reveal the one thing needed to complete your goals.” – D. Ridgley “You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen – not just money but respect.” – Harvey Mackay “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” – Stephen R. Covey “ 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.” – Socrates “There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.” – G. K. Chesterton “Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet.” – Krista Tippett “If we’re ready to listen, the obstacles we face can be life’s way of pushing us in the right direction.” – Mark Black To answer before listening— that is folly and shame. Proverbs 18:13 “A man learns nothing when he talks; he learns by listening.” – Marquis de Sade “It is easy to ask the question and not really listen to the answer. Listening is crucial.” – Brenda Nathan “f you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talk.” – Robert Baden-Powell “One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears – by listening to them.” – Dean Rusk “Do more listening than talking; talk more about them than about you.” ― Roy T. Bennett “We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.”― Diogenes Laertius “Never allow your ego to diminish your ability to listen.” ― Gary Hopkins “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” — Bryant H. McGill “The most basic of all human needs is to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.” —Ralph Nichols “The worst of all listeners is the man who does nothing but listens.” —Charles Dickens “Listen with your eyes as well as your ears.” ― Graham Speechley “Everything in writing begins with language. Language begins with listening.” —Jeanette Winterson “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.” – Woodrow Wilson 99 Of The Best Motivational Quotes For Students 68 Totally Relatable Quotes About New Relationships “Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.”– Jane Goodall “Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us. “ — Alice Deur Miller “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.” — David Augsburger “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.” — Karl Menninger “Listening is an effect. Communication is cause.”― Meir Ezra “When we genuinely want to listen, we are bound to hear, as well as be heard” ― Abhijit Naskar “Part of being successful is about asking questions and listening to the answers.” ― Anne Burrell “If people quickly support everything you say, they are probably not listening to anything you say.” ― Nitya Prakash “Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.” — Donald Rumsfeld “There are people who, instead of listening to what is being said to them, are already listening to what they are going to say themselves.” — Albert Guinon “To intelligent people, listening means taking a second, to actually listen to understand what the person is actually saying, beyond their words.” ― Tony Dovale “All wisdom was the result of listening to one’s own soul.” ― Paulo Coelho “Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.” — Plutarch ““The most effective way to show compassion to another is to listen, rather than talk.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh “One of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is listen to each other’s stories.” — Rebecca Falls “Listen carefully. The answers to our deepest questions are often whispered.” ― Wayne Gerard Trotman “Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.”– Max Ehrmann Use these listening quotes to help you really hear people. Now that you’ve read these quotes on listening, which ones stood out for you the most? Why not post some in a place where conversations naturally happen, so you’ll see those quotes and remember the importance of listening to understand? One conversation could decide whether a relationship dies or grows stronger. Trying to put the other in their place will only embitter you both. Too many of us learn this the hard way. And it takes us a while to see our own need to grieve the loss of a friendship — a loss we might have prevented by simply listening. May you always listen with a heart to understand and to love better than before.
