Falling in love is not an extension of one's limits or boundaries; it is a partial and temporary collapse of them.
M. Scott PeckRead
Listening well is an exercise of attention and by necessity hard work. It is because they do not realize this or because they are not willing to do the work that most people do not listen well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Effective listening requires focused effort and attention, which many people overlook or avoid.
In this quote, M. Scott Peck emphasizes the importance of active listening as a skill that demands intentional effort and dedication. He points out that the inability to listen well stems from a lack of awareness or willingness to engage deeply with others, suggesting that true listening is more than just hearing words; it involves understanding and connecting with the speaker at a profound level.
Themes
ListeningAttentionUnderstandingCommunicationEffort
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on communication skills, you can use this quote to highlight the need for active listening.
More from M. Scott Peck
All quotes βIf your goal is to avoid pain and escape suffering, I would not advise you to seek higher levels of consciousness or spiritual evolution.
M. Scott PeckRead
All my life I used to wonder what I would become when I grew up. Then, about seven years ago, I realized that I was never going to grow up--that growing is an ever ongoing process.
M. Scott PeckRead
When we love someone our love becomes demonstrable or real only through our exertion - through the fact that for that someone (or for ourself) we take an extra step or walk an extra mile. Love is not effortless. To the contrary, love is effortful.
M. Scott PeckRead
An unconscious, gentle process whereby people who want to be loving attempt to be so by telling little white lies, by withholding some of the truth about themselves and their feelings in order to avoid conflict. Pseudocommunity is conflict-avoiding; true community is conflict-resolving.
M. Scott PeckRead
Idealists are people who believe in the potential of human nature for transformation. . . . The most essential attribute of human nature is its mutability and freedom from instinct . . . it is always within our power to change our nature. So it is actually the idealists who are on the mark and the realists who are off base.
M. Scott PeckRead
Similar quotes
A speech is something you say so as to distract attention from what you do not say.
William StaffordRead
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.
Eugene KennedyRead
Listen with your eyes for feelings.
Stephen CoveyRead
I think the written word is probably the best medium of communication because you have time to reflect, you have time to choose your words, to get your sentences exactly right. Whereas when you're being interviewed, say, you have to talk on the fly, you have to improvise, you can change sentences around, and they're not exactly right.
Richard DawkinsRead
You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel. You cannot translate that which you do not have. And you cannot give that which you do not possess. To give it and to share it, and for it to be effective, you first need to have it. Good communication starts with good preparation.
Jim RohnRead
A talk is a voyage. It must be charted. The speaker who starts nowhere, usually gets there.
Dale CarnegieRead