Communication

Talks

Quotes

There are two theories about arguing with women.  Neither one works. – Anonymous

The older I grow the more I listen to people who don’t talk much. – Germain G. Glien

You can’t fight with a listener.

“It’s so simple to be wise.  Just think of something stupid to say and then don’t say it.” Sam Levenson

I am careful of the words I say, to keep them soft and sweet.  For I never know from day to day, which ones I’ll have to eat. – Unknown

Speak when you are angry and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret. – Ambrose Bierce

James Dobson, on criticism: The right to criticize must be earned, even if the advice is constructive in nature.  Before you are entitled to tinker with another person’s self-esteem, you are obligated first to demonstrate your respect for him as a person.  When a relationship of confidence has been carefully constructed, you will have earned the right to discuss a potentially threatening topic.  Your motives will have been thereby clarified. – What Wives Wished Their Husbands Knew About Women (Living Books)

You can make more friends in a month by being interested in them than in ten years by trying to get them interested in you. – Charles Allen

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.  Peter F. Drucker, quoted by Bill Moyers in A World of Ideas (Doubleday)

Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything. – Herb Gardner

It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt. – Dr. Arthur Burns

Don’t knock the weather.  If it didn’t change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn’t start a conversation. – Kin Hubbard

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.  If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use. – Emily Post, quoted by Jeanne Perkins Harman in Such Is Life (Thomas Y. Crowell)

About the only people who listen to both sides of an argument are the next-door neighbors. – Anonymous

There would be fewer arguments if we tried to determine what’s right instead of who’s right. – Anonymous

To disagree, one doesn’t have to be disagreeable. – Barry M. Goldwater with Jack Casserly

Go into a discussion with an open mind – with the intent to solve the problem, not to prove you own point.

Getting angry can sometimes be like leaping into a wonderfully responsive sports car, gunning the motor, taking off at high speed and then discovering the brakes are out of order. – Maggie Scarf in New York Times Magazine

Friends are those rare people who ask you how you are then wait to hear the answer. – Ed Cunningham

Someone has said that it is possible “ to listen a person’s soul into existence.” – Catherine de Hueek Doherty

His thoughts were slow,

His words were few,

And never formed to glisten.

But he was a joy to all his friends-

You should have heard him listen.

            -Anonymous, Quoted by Wayne Mackey in Oklahoma City Times-

True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. –  Dave Gentry