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
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.
In practice
During a workshop on communication skills, you can use this quote to highlight the need for active listening.
Falling in love is not an extension of one's limits or boundaries; it is a partial and temporary collapse of them.
If your goal is to avoid pain and escape suffering, I would not advise you to seek higher levels of consciousness or spiritual evolution.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.
The art of conversation lies in listening.
I speak and speak, [...] but the listener retains only the words he is expecting. [...] It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.
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.
The eagerness of a listener quickens the tongue of a narrator.
Once you can clearly describe what you are reacting to, free of your interpretation or evaluation of it, other people are less likely to be defensive when they hear it.
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