Inspirational listening quotes will encourage growth in life, make you wiser and broaden your perspective.
Powerful Collection of Most Famous Listening Quotes
When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. Ernest Hemingway
The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people. Woodrow Wilson
Listening is an effect. Communication is cause. Meir Ezra
Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request. Phillip Stanhope
Friends are those rare people who ask how we are, and then wait to hear the answer. Ed Cunningham
In some South Pacific cultures, a speaker holds a conch shell as a symbol of temporary position of authority. Leaders must understand who holds the conch that is, who should be listened to and when. Max De Pree
Emma felt that she could not now show greater kindness than in listening. Jane Austen
Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. Publilius Syrus
It takes a great man to be a good listener. Calvin Coolidge
You have to be willing sometimes to listen to some remarkable bad opinions. Because if you say to someone, That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard; get on out of here! then you’ll never get anything out of that person again, and you might as well have a puppet on a string or a robot. John Bryan
An appreciative listener is always stimulating. Agatha Christie
Effective questioning brings insight, which fuels curiosity, which cultivates wisdom. Chip Bell
Listen with the will to learn. Unarine Ramaru
Silence is a source of great strength. Lao Tzu
Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Graham Speechley
We should never pretend to know what we don’t know, we should not feel ashamed to ask and learn from people below, and we should listen carefully to the views of the cadres at the lowest levels. Be a pupil before you become a teacher; learn from the cadres at the lower levels before you issue orders. Mao Tse tung
When we listen, we hear someone into existence. Laurie Buchanan
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. Ralph Nichols
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
Effective listeners remember that words have no meaning people have meaning. The assignment of meaning to a term is an internal process; meaning comes from inside us. And although our experiences, knowledge and attitudes differ, we often misinterpret each other’s messages while under the illusion that a common understanding has been achieved. Larry Barker
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. Roy T. Bennett
An actor’s a guy who if you ain’t talkin’ about him, ain’t listening. Marlon Brando
One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say. Bryant H. McGill
It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. Dick Cavett
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
I’ll defend to the death your right to say that, but I never said I’d listen to it! Tom Galloway
Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure. Henri Nouwen
The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. Hubert Humphrey
Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right. Jane Goodall
One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody’s listening. Franklin P. Jones
Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words. Roy T. Bennett
Just because I didn’t do what you told me, doesn’t mean I wasn’t listening to you! Hank Ketcham
People love to talk but hate to listen. 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. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back fuller and richer. Alice Duer Miller
One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider a problem, can change our whole outlook on the world. Dr. E. H. Mayo
Bravery is the choice to show up and listen to another person, be it a loved one or perceived foe, even when it is uncomfortable, painful, or the last thing you want to do. Alaric Hutchinson
There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation. James Nathan Miller
Listen with your eyes for feelings. Stephen Covey
You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time. M. Scott Peck
Listen with ears of tolerance. Rumi
Man’s inability to communicate is a result of his failure to listen effectively. Carl Rogers
Listen with your mouth closed and your heart open. Christine Toda
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. Winston Churchill
Listen with grace, with no judgment, without imposing the law. Joseph Prince
To listen fully means to pay close attention to what is being said beneath the words. You listen not only to the music, but to the essence of the person speaking. You listen not only for what someone knows, but for what he or she is. Ears operate at the speed of sound, which is far slower than the speed of light the eyes take in. Generative listening is the art of developing deeper silences in yourself, so you can slow our mind’s hearing to your ears’ natural speed, and hear beneath the words to their meaning. Peter Senge
Listen with your heart, you will understand. Pochahontas
It is the province of knowledge to speak And it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Stephen R. Covey
The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer. Henry David Thoreau
Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking. Bernard M. Baruch
To be listened to is, generally speaking, a nearly unique experience for most people. It is enormously stimulating. It is small wonder that people who have been demanding all their lives to be heard so often fall speechless when confronted with one who gravely agrees to lend an ear. Man clamors for the freedom to express himself and for knowing that he counts. But once offered these conditions, he becomes frightened. Robert C. Murphy
Part of being successful is about asking questions and listening to the answers. Anne Burrell
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something. Wilson Mizner
Talk a little less, listen a little more, and you’ll be a lot wiser. Eric Gibbons
The best time to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust. Josh Billings
All wisdom was the result of listening to one’s own soul. Paulo Coelho
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
Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have rather talked. Mark Twain
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
You can make positive deposits in your own economy every day by reading and listening to powerful, positive, life changing content and by associating with encouraging and hope building people. Zig Ziglar
When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. Ernest Hemingway
Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter. Thich Nhat Hanh
Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble. Frank Tyger
Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right. Jane Goodall
Just being available and attentive is a great way to use listening as a management tool. Some employees will come in, talk for twenty minutes, and leave having solved their problems entirely by themselves. Nicholas V. Luppa
Are you listening or thinking when you are listening? Pawan Parashar
Without credible communication, and a lot of it, the hearts and minds of others are never captured. John P. Kotter
I knew you talked to books. I didn’t realize they listened. Margaret Rogerson
The saddest part about being human is not paying attention. Presence is the gift of life. Stephen Levine
Stop and listen. The story is everywhere. Thomas Lloyd
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
Listen for silence. Frank Sonnenberg
We do not grow by knowing all of the answers, but rather by living with the questions. Max De Pree
Listening is the secret to discovering great stories. Fyrefly London
The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It’s terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys. Sam Walton
It’s a phenomenon that people treat lightly, and it should not be treated lightly. It’s something that is essential to human beings listening to stories. George Guidall
Many active listening seminars are, in actuality, little more than a shallow theatrical exercise in appearing like you’re paying attention to another person. The requirements Lean forward, make eye contact, nod, grunt, or murmur to demonstrate you’re awake and paying attention, and paraphrase something back every 30 seconds or so. As one executive I know wryly observed, many inhabitants of the local zoo could be trained to go through these motions, minus the paraphrasing. Robert K. Cooper
