Were we as eloquent as angels, yet should we please some men, some women, and some children much more by listening than by talking.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 13 (1820)
(Source)
Quotations about:
listening
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
HEAVEN, n. A place where the wicked cease from troubling you with talk of their personal affairs, and the good listen with attention while you expound your own.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Heaven,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1885-05-23).
The art of conversation, or the qualification for a good companion, is a certain self-control, which now holds the subject, now lets it go, with a respect for the emergencies of the moment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1854)
(Source)
Reprinted in Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1820–1872, Vol. 3 (1912).
He listens well
Who takes notes.[Bene ascolta chi la nota.]
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 15, l. 99ff (15.99) (1309) [tr. James (2013)]
(Source)
Virgil either warning Dante to consider all the predictions / warnings he's receiving from the damned about "future" political troubles, or else praising him for appearing to have remembered them (interpretations vary).
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:He listens well, who what he hears remarks.
[tr. Rogers (1782), l. 96]"Unhappy is the man," exclaim'd my Guide,
"From whose weak mind the words of wisdom glide."
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 18]He listens to good purpose who takes note.
[tr. Cary (1814)]Well doth he hear, who marks what he hath heard.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]He listens well who notes it.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]He listens well who notes.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]He listens well who noteth well.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]He listeneth well who noteth it.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]Well listens he who marks it.
[tr. Butler (1885)]Who noteth well, he well doth hear.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]He listens well who notes it.
[tr. Norton (1892)]He listeneth well that layeth it to heart.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]He listens well who notes the matter.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]He is a good listener who takes note.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]He listens well who noteth well the word.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]Well-heeded is well-heard.
[tr. Sayers (1949)]Well heeded is well heard.
[tr. Ciardi (1954)]He who notes it listens well.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]He listens well who notes well what he hears.
[tr. Musa (1971)]He who takes note of this has listened well.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]Those are the words of a good listener!
[tr. Sisson (1981)]He who has listened well will understand.
[tr. Pinsky (1994)]He listens well who takes note.
[tr. Durling (1996)]He listens closely, who notes it.
[tr. Kline (2002)]"Those listen well," he said, "who take good note."
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]He listens well who takes in what he hears.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]It's good
To hear such words, for they are truly profound.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]
Take care never to speak what you have not weighed and pondered beforehand; nor interject your own words on the spur of the moment and in the midst of another’s; for you must listen and converse in turn, with set times for speech and for silence.
Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 150 - c. 215 ) Christian theologian, philosopher, Church Father [Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Titus Flavius Clemens]
“To the Newly Baptized / Exhortation to Endurance” [tr. Butterworth]
(Source)
To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) American writer [Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald]
(Attributed)
No actual citation found. Also often attributed (also without citation) to Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Nobody really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you’ll see why.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 3 (1966)
(Source)
Women are good listeners, but it’s a waste of time telling your troubles to a man unless there is something specific you want him to do.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 3 (1963)
(Source)
To a talkative fellow, who poured out a torrent of words and then said, “Let’s hope I haven’t been boring you with my chatter!” he replied, “No, by Zeus, I haven’t been listening.”
[πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα ἀδολέσχην, ἐπειδὴ αὐτοῦ πολλὰ κατήντλησε, “μήτι σου κατεφλυάρησα;” “μὰ Δί᾽,” εἶπεν: “οὐ γάρ σοι προσεῖχον.]
Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Mensch (2018)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:A chattering fellow, who had been abusing him, said to him, “Have not I been jeering you properly?” “Not that I know of,” said he, “for I have not been listening to you.”
[tr. Yonge (1853)]To the chatterbox who poured out a flood of talk upon him and then inquired, "Have I bored you to death with my chatter?" he replied, "No, indeed; for I was not attending to you."
[tr. Hicks (1925), sec. 20]To the man talking endlessly when he assailed him with words and asked “Have I worn you out with nonsense”, he said “By Zeus, no! I wasn’t listening to you.”
[tr. @sentantiq (2016)]
Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
Treatise on Narcissus [Le Traité du Narcisse] (1891)
Not listening is probably the commonest unkindness of married life, and one that creates — more devastatingly than an eternity of forgotten birthdays and misguided Christmas gifts — an atmosphere of not loving and not caring.
Judith Viorst (b. 1931) American writer, journalist, psychoanalysis researcher
Yes, Married (1972)
A friend is someone who listens to your bullshit, tells you that it is bullshit, and listens some more.
Robin Williams (1951-2014) American comedian and actor
(Attributed)
I have accustomed myself to receive with respect the opinions of others, but always take the responsibility of deciding for myself.
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) American politician, general, US President (1829-1837)
(Attributed)
Quoted by John F. Kennedy in the foreword to T. Sorensen, Decision-Making in the White House: The Olive Branch or the Arrows (1963)
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.
Leo Buscaglia (1925-1998) American psychologist, writer
Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (1992)
You aren’t learning anything when you’re talking.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
(Attributed)
(Source)
Sometimes given as "You ain't learning anything when you're talking."
Reported, not as a quote, but as a sign on his wall while a US Senator, in Leslie Carpenter, "A Man of Complexity," Boston Herald (1963-12-01), read into the Congressional Record, House of Representatives (1963-12-03) by House Speaker John W. McCormack (D-RI).
Let us be silent, — so we may hear the whisper of the gods.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Friendship,” Essays: First Series (1841)
Sometimes misquoted as "whispers of the gods."
As a matter of fact, have you never noticed that most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of a witness?
Margaret Millar (1915-1994) American-Canadian mystery and suspense writer
The Weak-Eyed Bat (1942)
(Source)
Often misattributed to Mark Twain, usually as "Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses."
More information on this quote's origins: Most Conversations Are Simply Monologues Delivered in the Presence of a Witness – Quote Investigator®
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
