Is childhood ever long enough, or a happy time, or even a beautiful summer day? All of these carry the seeds of the same fierce mystery that we call death.
Eugene KennedyRead
There is a silence that matches our best possibilities when we have learned to listen to others. We can master the art of being quiet in order to be able to hear clearly what others are saying. . . . We need to cut off the garbled static of our own preoccupations to give to people who want our quiet attention.
Interpretation
Listening to others is essential for understanding and connection.
This quote emphasizes the importance of truly listening to others without the distractions of our own thoughts. By silencing our internal dialogues and being present, we can better understand and connect with those around us, fostering deeper relationships and better communication.
In practice
During a team meeting, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of active listening to encourage collaboration.
Is childhood ever long enough, or a happy time, or even a beautiful summer day? All of these carry the seeds of the same fierce mystery that we call death.
If you ask people what attracted them to the person they love, they never tell you of some perfect feature that focused them on sheer surfaces but rather an imperfection that allowed them to see into their uncharted depths.
Communicate your passion clearly, concisely and with genuine conviction.
It does not matter what you know about anything if you cannot communicate to your people. In that event, you are not even a failure. You're just not there.
Communication starts with the understanding that there is my point of view (my truth) and someone else's point of view (his truth). Rarely is there one absolute truth, so people who believe that they speak the truth are very silencing of others.
COMMUNICATION: If I had to pick a first rule of communication-the one practice above all others that opens the door to connecting with others-it would be to look for common ground. Too often people see communication as the process of transmitting massive amounts of information to other people. But that's the wrong picture. Communication is a journey. The more that people have in common, the better the chance that they can take that journey together.
I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.
A talk is a voyage. It must be charted. The speaker who starts nowhere, usually gets there.
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