What St. Francis and St. Dominic have done, that, by God's grace, I will do.
Saint IgnatiusRead
Be slow to speak, and only after having first listened quietly, so that you may understand the meaning, leanings, and wishes of those who do speak. Thus you will better know when to speak and when to be silent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Listen carefully before speaking to better understand others' thoughts and needs.
This quote emphasizes the importance of active listening before responding. By taking the time to listen quietly, one can grasp the depth of the speaker's message, intentions, and desires, which leads to more thoughtful and effective communication. Understanding others is key to knowing when to voice your own thoughts and when to remain silent.
Themes
ListeningCommunicationUnderstandingPatienceWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
In a team meeting, I will remind my colleagues to be slow to speak and listen actively to each other's ideas.
More from Saint Ignatius
All quotes →Remember that the good angels do what they can to preserve men from sin and obtain God's honor. But they do not lose courage when men fail.
Saint IgnatiusRead
In the matter of learning, the difference between the earnest and the careless student stands out clearly. The same holds true in the mastering of passion and the weaknesses to which our nature is subject, as in the acquiring of virtue.
Saint IgnatiusRead
It is proper to ask for sorrow with Christ in sorrow, anguish with Christ in anguish, tears and deep grief because of the great affliction Christ endures for me.
Saint IgnatiusRead
It is a great delusion in those whose understanding has been darkened by self-love, to think that there is any obedience in the subject who tries to draw the superior to what he wishes.
Saint IgnatiusRead
He who aims at making an entire and perfect oblation of himself, in addition to his will, must offer his understanding, which is a further and the highest degree of obedience.
Saint IgnatiusRead
Similar quotes
I'm often reassured in a bizarre - perhaps perverse - way when I find in the archive stuff that contradicts what my assumptions have been. That's interesting and exciting.
Antony BeevorRead
I was taught you don't tell your secrets to strangers - certainly not secrets that expose error, weakness, failure. My generation, like its predecessors, was taught that since our achievements received little notice or credit from white America, we were not to discuss our faults, lapses, or uncertainties in public.
Margo JeffersonRead
Experience is a truer guide than the words of others.
Leonardo Da VinciRead
No enemy is indeed so terrible as a man of genius.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Perhaps when the light of heaven shows us clearly the pitfalls and dangers of the earth road that led to the heavenly city, our sweetest songs of gratitude will be not for the troubles we have conquered, but for those we have escaped.
Amelia BarrRead
Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead