83 Listening Quotes To Help You Be A Better Listener

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

Here are 83 of the best listening quotes I could find. What’s my goal? To inspire you and help you be a better listener. You’ll discover authors like Einstein, Buddha, and more. Enjoy!
listening quotes difference hearing chesterton wisdom quotes

There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing. G. K. Chesterton

Takeaway: When you listen, you care. When you hear, you don’t.

listening quotes word contains letters silent alfred brendel wisdom

The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent. Alfred Brendel

Takeaway: To truly listen, one must be calm and silent.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear. Ram Dass

Takeaway: Wise people are calm and serene so it’s easy for them to listen.

It is greed to do all the talking and never to listen. Democritus

Takeaway: Talking is about you. Listening is about the other.

Hearing is listening to what’s said. Listening is hearing what isn’t said. Simon Sinek (Source)

Takeaway: True listening leads to understanding.

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When someone else is talking, stop thinking of things to say. Dan Go (Source)

Takeaway: A sign of wisdom: when you listen, you listen.

We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say. Zeno of Citium

Takeaway: There’s enough noise in the world. Learn to listen more.

Listening to my son is one of the most important skill I can teach him. Maxime Lagacé

Takeaway: By listening to someone, you show generosity and care, and the world needs that.

These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them. Rumi

Takeaway: The first person you should listen to? Yourself.

Listening never gets you in trouble but talking can. Mike Tyson (Source)

Takeaway: Listening is simple, beautiful, and risk-free. Talking is not.

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I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen. Ernest Hemingway

Takeaway: You can’t learn by talking. Only by listening and observing.

If he who listens listens fully, then he who listens becomes he who understands. Ptahhotep

Takeaway: You can’t understand if you don’t give your full attention.

Examine what is said, not who speaks. Arab proverb

Takeaway: To learn something, listen and focus on the message, the meaning.

One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say. Bryant H. McGill

Takeaway: Want to show you care? Give space to other people.

Life gets better when you listen, to yourself, and to others. Maxime Lagacé

Takeaway: You can’t hear your soul if you keep listening to society’s noise.

Related

More Quotes About Listening

Listen more than you talk. Give more than you take. Love more than you fear. Maxime Lagacé

Listeners need to be heard too. Unknown

Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you. Unknown

Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words. Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart, Amazon book)

It is not the hearing that improves life, but the listening. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

A person hears only what they understand. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If you’re not listening, you’re not learning. Lyndon B. Johnson

Listening is what you do when you have love in your heart. Maxime Lagacé

Everybody wants to be heard, nobody wants to listen. Unknown

Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say. Andy Stanley

Don’t feel bad if sometimes you don’t have much to say. Most people say too much. Thibaut

Listening is more than being quiet while the other person speaks until you can say what you have to say. Krista Tippett

In moments where we are unsure what to say, simply listening and being present can mean the world. John Cena

More often than not, listening is the best help you can give. Thibaut

The secret to being instantly likable: listen. Matthew Kobach

Listen as if you’re wrong. Sahil Lavingia

Great leaders know that listening to others is much more important than asserting their authority. Quiet your thoughts and listen to others with an open mind. John Wooden

Listening well and answering well is one of the greatest perfections that can be obtained in conversation. François de La Rochefoucauld

The fool talks. The wise listens. Maxime Lagacé

A good listener is one who helps us overhear ourselves. Yahia Lababidi

The smarter you get, the more you listen. Thibaut

The best way to be a good conversationalist is to let the other person do most of the talking. Matthew Kobach

The worst of all listeners is the man who does nothing but listen. Charles Dickens

The most precious gift you can give someone is the gift of your time and attention. Nicky Gumbel

If we can be present to the moment with the person that we happen to be with at the moment, that’s what’s important. Fred Rogers

Listening is the simplest way to validate others. Just listen. Thibaut

Only when you’re calm, silent, peaceful, can you truly listen. Maxime Lagacé

Charismatic people all share this one trait: They make you feel like you’re the only person who matters when you’re talking to them. Matthew Kobach

The good listener: someone who has learnt how to find bits of themselves in the experiences of others. Alain de Botton

Meditation is turning off society and listening to yourself. Naval Ravikant

Listening benefits the listener. Ptahhotep

Listening is not a reaction, it is a connection. Listening to a conversation or a story, we don’t so much respond as join in — become part of the action. Ursula K. Le Guin

You can think, or you can listen. You cannot do both. James Pierce

Many seek to refute before they seek to understand. James Pierce

Listening is the beginning of prayer. Mother Teresa

Those who know their worth don’t need to prove it to others. They simply observe, listen, do. Maxime Lagacé

If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet…maybe we could understand something. Federico Fellini

Praying is talking to the Universe. Meditation is listening to it. Paulo Coelho (Source)

Deep listening is an act of surrender. We risk being changed by what we hear. Valarie Kaur

Show up, work hard, and listen. That’s it. Tim Grover

Practice really hearing what people say. Do your best to get inside their minds. Marcus Aurelius

There’s no place where deep listening and loving speech are inappropriate. Thich Nhat Hanh

When you know how to listen everyone is the guru. Ram Dass

The art of listening comes from a quiet mind and an open heart. Ram Dass

Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say. Paulo Coelho

God gave us mouths that close and ears that don’t – that should tell us something. Paulo Coelho

Sometimes, it is better to be kind than to be right. Not an intelligent mind that speaks, but a patient heart that listens. Paulo Coelho

Listening does not mean waiting for your turn to talk. Preethi Kasireddy

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again. André Gide (Autumn Leaves, Amazon book)

Listening and encouragement. These things cost little to give and are often priceless to the recipient. Some people have never encountered a single person who genuinely wanted the best for them. The Stoic Emperor

People are interesting if you allow them to be. A routine social interaction is only a couple good questions away from something deeply involving. People reveal their complexity when you give them your full attention. Your interest gives them permission to be interesting. The Stoic Emperor

Usually, what we call a “good listener” is someone with a skillfully polished indifference. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Bed of Procrustes, Amazon book)

I’ve come to understand that listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another… if we care, we can listen. Fred Rogers

Related: 6 Ways To Become A Better Listener (fastcompany.com)

Listening is where love begins: listening to ourselves and then to our neighbors. Fred Rogers

When you listen to people too much, you lose your own voice. Gary Goodridge (Source)

A sign of wisdom: you don’t care to listen more than you talk. Maxime Lagacé

I need to listen well so that I hear what is not said. Thuli Madonsela

To listen is one of the most difficult things to do because what one hears, one interprets; one either agrees or disagrees. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Listening is learning. Because when you listen silently, the whole existence starts speaking with you. Osho

So, when you are listening to somebody completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Normalize: listening to people express how they feel without giving advice, trying to change it, or attempting to fix it. Dr. Nicole LePera (Source)

If someone is not humble enough to listen, they are not worth listening to. The Ancient Sage

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, welcome, and accept. Henri Nouwen

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Stephen R. Covey

There cannot be greater rudeness than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse. John Locke

Related: What Is Active Listening? (verywellmind.com)

Conclusion

The humble are the greatest. They see others as equals. They love. They give. They listen. Maxime Lagacé

Key Takeaways

Listening is a sign of respect, humility, and curiosity.
Stop pretending you’re listening. Stop preparing what you want to say. Listen!
The benefits of listening?
- You learn more
- You make people feel better
- You make the world a better place
How to be a better listener?
- Learn to relax
- Learn patience
- Ignore distractions
- Learn to tame your mind (with meditation for example)
Listening is the art of creating space for people

83 Listening Quotes To Help You Be A Better Listener

More Quotes About Listening

Conclusion

Key Takeaways

Further Readings

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