The first duty of love is to listen. -Paul Tillich.

The first duty of love is to listen. -Paul Tillich.

The wise old owl lived in an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke read more

The wise old owl lived in an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard: Why can't we all be like that bird? -Edward H. Richards.

A good listener is not someone with nothing to say. A good listener is a good talker with a sore read more

A good listener is not someone with nothing to say. A good listener is a good talker with a sore throat.

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf. -Native American.

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf. -Native American.

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen.

I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen.

From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.

From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.

An essential part of true listening is the discipline of bracketing, the temporary giving up or setting aside of one's read more

An essential part of true listening is the discipline of bracketing, the temporary giving up or setting aside of one's own prejudices, frames of reference and desires so as to experience as far as possible the speaker's world from the inside, step in inside his or her shoes. This unification of speaker and listener is actually and extension and enlargement of ourselves, and new knowledge is always gained from this. Moreover, since true listening involves bracketing, a setting aside of the self, it also temporarily involves a total acceptance of the other. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will fell less and less vulnerable and more and more inclined to open up the inner recesses of his or her mind to the listener. As this happens, speaker and listener begin to appreciate each other more and more, and the duet dance of love is begun again. -M. Scott Peck.

I have learned as much about writing about my people by listening to blues and jazz and spirituals as I read more

I have learned as much about writing about my people by listening to blues and jazz and spirituals as I have by reading novels.