The Art of Conversation

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes

and but one tongue to the end that we should

hear and see more than we speak.

Socrates

Every word has consequences.

Every silence, too.

Jean-Paul Sartre

- Speak softly.

- Don't raise your voice. But don't speak too quietly.

- Speak at a medium pace.

- Listen more than you speak. Don't share too much private information.

- Make eye contact. Smile. Use your eyes and body language.

- Don't interrupt others.

- Give people your undivided attention.

- Don't curse.

- Don't use words you don't know how to pronounce.

- Read.

- Study women who you want to be like. Do research the same way an actor does to build a character.

The single biggest problem in communication

is the illusion that it has taken place.

George Bernard Shaw

Change happens by listening and then

starting a dialogue with the people who are

doing something you don't believe is right.

Jane Goodall

One of the most sincere forms of respect is

actually listening to what another has to say.

Bryant H. McGill

The more you discipline yourself,

the less you will be disciplined by others.

Napoleon Hill

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to

people who want to feel important. They do not

see the harm that they cause, or they justify it,

because they are absorbed in the endless

struggle to think well of themselves.

T.S. Eliot

People will forget what you said,

people will forget what you did, but

people will never forget how you made dem feel.

Maya Angelou

Wise men speak because they have something

to say; fools because they have to say something.

Plato

Strong minds discuss ideas,

average minds discuss events,

weak minds discuss people.

Socrates

If you propose to speak always ask yourself,

is it true, is it necessary, is it kind.

Buddha

Speak only if it improves upon the silence.

Mahatma Gandhi

You can tell more about a person by what

he says about others than you can by

what others say about him.

Audrey Hepburn

Education: the path from cocky ignorance

to miserable uncertainty.

Mark Twain

Think before you speak, read before you think.

Fran Lebowitz

Don't just say that you have read books.

Show that through them you have

learned to think better.

Epictetus

I'm not entitled to have an opinion unless

I can state the arguments against my position

better than the people who are in opposition.

I am qualified to speak only when

I've reached that state.

Charlie Munger

1. Jokes about something that is true and sensitive.

2. Jokes with your opinions that are not positive.

3. Sarcasm that goes too far (if the person does not understand that you're being sarcastic). 

4. Jokes about stereotypes (racial/stereotypes/sexist/groups of people).

5. Vulgar jokes (sexist/sex/toilet humor/swearing).

6. Self-deprecating humor.

7. A badly told joke (storytelling - how the build-up process works. Work with pauses).

Nothing shows a man's character

more than what he laughs at.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Opinion is really the lowest form of human

knowledge. It requires no accountability, no

understanding. The highest form of knowledge

is empathy, for it requires us to suspend

our egos and live in another's world.

Bill Bullard

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool

than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Abraham Lincoln

Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid

minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant.

Education and free discussion are

the antidotes of both.

Thomas Jefferson

Listen with the intent to understand,

not the intent to reply.

Stephen Covey

You should not honor men more than truth.

Plato

To be interesting, be interested.

Dale Carnegie

My point is not that religion itself is

the motivation for wars, murders and terrorist

attacks, but that religion is the principal label,

and the most dangerous one, by which a 'they'

as opposed to a 'we' can be identified at all.

Richard Dawkins

People are taught how to speak,

but their major concern should be

how to keep silent.

Leo Tolstoy

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate,

only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

1. Your plans. Move in silence.

2. Your finances.

3. Your love life.

4. Someone else's confidential information (malicious gossip).

5. Your drama.

6. Your controversial views (religion, politics, social taboos).

7. Your good deeds.

Three can keep a secret,

if two of them are dead.

Benjamin Franklin

Intelligence is measured by a person's

ability to see validity within both sides

of contradicting arguments.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

A fool is known by his speech;

and a wise man by silence.

Pythagoras

In order for the truth to be heard, it must

be spoken with love. No matter how wise

and true a spoken word will not be conveyed

to someone if it's spoken in anger.

Leo Tolstoy