The day after Thanksgiving is designated to be one for listening; a day we listen to the stories of others, listen to what they have to say, and learn. I missed a Five for Friday post last week, and decided to make up for it! So today I bring you fifteen powerful quotes about listening and how to listen.

Listening, or in this case, paying attention to what these quotes say, is so very important. I have to confess; I don’t think I am a good listener, or at least, not all of the times. I try to be, but sometimes, depending on what (or who) I am listening to, I find my mind and attention wandering, though it should not. Which means I need(ed) to learn ways to be a better listener. And these quotes do tell me, sometimes subtly and at other times matter-of-factly, and always succinctly, what listening is, and how we can listen better.

Powerful Quotes About Listening and How to Listen

1. “We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.” ― Zeno
2. “The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.” ― Alfred Brendel
3. “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” ― Stephen R. Covey
4. “This is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener. They don’t jump in on your sentences, saving you from actually finishing them, or talk over you, allowing what you do manage to get out to be lost or altered in transit. Instead, they wait, so you have to keep going.” ― Sarah Dessen
5. “So 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
6. “The art of conversation lies in listening.” –Malcom Forbes
7. “You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.” –M. Scott Peck
8. “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 A. Menniger
9. “If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.” – Robert Baden-Powell
10. “Friends are those rare people who ask how we are, and then wait to hear the answer.” –Ed Cunningham
11. “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” – Bryant H. McGill
12. “I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” – Larry King
13. “Listening is a positive act: you have to put yourself out to do it.” – David Hockney
14. “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” –Doug Larson
15. “Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.” – Alan Alda

Bonus

And one extra one, which made me smile!

“One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody’s listening.” – Franklin P. Jones

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, do you have any quotes to share about listening? Which of these powerful quotes about listening appealed to you the most?