Category: Words of Wisdom

So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger… – James 1:19, WEB

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel. – Proverbs 12:15, WEB

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. – John 10:27-28, WEB-BE

He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him. – Proverbs 18:13, WEB

Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is victory. – Proverbs 11:14, WEB

So as to turn your ear to wisdom,
and apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you call out for discernment,
and lift up your voice for understanding;
If you seek her as silver,
and search for her as for hidden treasures:
then you will understand the fear of Yahweh,
and find the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2:2-5, WEB

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. – Revelations 3:20, WEB-BE

A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion. – Proverbs 18:2, WEB-BE

“Today if you will hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts.”
-Hebrews 4:7, WEB

This is the boldness which we have towards him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. – 1 John 5:14-15, WEB-BE

Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in richness.
Turn your ear, and come to me.
Hear, and your soul will live:
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
-Isaiah 55:2-3, WEB-BE

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary.
He wakens morning by morning,
he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious.
I have not turned back.
-Isaiah 50:4-5, WEB-BE

Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil. Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words. – Ecclesiastes 5:1-3, WEB-BE

I will hear what God, the LORD, will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, his saints;
but let them not turn again to folly.
-Psalm 85:8, WEB-BE

To whom should I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can’t listen. Behold, the LORD’s word has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it. – Jeremiah 6:10, WEB-BE

By hearing you will hear,
and will in no way understand;
Seeing you will see,
and will in no way perceive:
for this people’s heart has grown callous,
their ears are dull of hearing,
they have closed their eyes;
or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and would turn again;
and I would heal them.’
-Matthew 13:14-15, WEB-BE

This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. – 1 John 5:14-15, WEB

There is Someone who listens to us. Someone who knows us well and believes in our worth. Someone who gives value to our thoughts, to our feelings. The rest of the world may fail to hear our voice, but God hears. He listens to our every cry.

God listens to us, not only in the hour that we approach Him, but always. God listens not only to our words but to our hearts. He knows what we fail to say. He understands what we really wanted to say.

Sometimes we may wonder, why speak to Him if He already knows what we want to say? But such is not how a Father wants His child to do. Even if a Father already knows, He still wants us to come to Him and speak to Him because He loves us.

Let us come to Him indeed, not only with our words, but with all of our being, with our very presence! For such is how love speaks. And it is such how love listens.

My daughter…why do you not tell me about everything that concerns you, even the smallest details? Tell Me about everything, and know that this will give Me great joy. I answered, But You know about everything, Lord.” And Jesus replied to me, “Yes I do know; but you should not excuse yourself with the fact that I know, but with childlike simplicity talk to Me about everything, for my ears and heart are inclined towards you, and your words are dear to Me. – Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are, and then wait to hear the answer. – Ed Cunningham

The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.– Ralph G. Nichols

Being heard
is so close to being loved
that for the average person,
they are almost indistinguishable.
– David Augsburger

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. – Winston Churchill

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

The first duty of love is to listen. – Paul Tillich

Sometimes it’s not the strength but gentleness that cracks the hardest shells. – Richard Paul Evans

The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard. – William Hazlitt

The humble listen to their brothers and sisters because they assume they have something to learn. They are open to correction, and they become wiser through it. – Thomas Dubay

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. -Robert Frost

When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes. – Victor Hugo

You have to listen to the people who have a negative opinion as well as those who have positive opinion. Just to make sure that you are blending all these opinions in your mind before a decision is made. – Carlos Ghosn

A friend asks, “Tell me one word which is significant in any kinds of relationship.” Another friend says, “LISTEN!” – Santosh Kalwar

We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. We will enhance our safety by earning the respect of others and showing respect for them. – Theodore C. Sorensen

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

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

Listen once in a while. It’s amazing what you can hear. – Russell Baker

Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don’t have to do anything else. We don’t have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen. – Margaret J. Wheatley

I love meeting new people; I think everyone has a story to tell. We should all listen sometimes. -Kim Smith

It takes a great man to be a good listener. – Calvin Coolidge

Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking. – Bernard M. Baruch

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said. The art of reading between the lines is a life long quest of the wise. – Shannon L. Alder

Defensiveness is usually someone silently screaming that they need you to value and respect them in disguise. When you look for deeper meanings behind someone’s pain you can then begin to heal not only yourself, but others. – Shannon L. Alder

An argument in apologetics, when actually used in dialogue, is an extension of the arguer. The arguer’s tone, sincerity, care, concern, listening, and respect matter as much as his or her logic – probably more. The world was won for Christ not by arguments but by sanctity: “What you are speaks so loud, I can hardly hear what you say.” – Peter Kreeft

When we fear what other people think about us, we are frequently more focused on ‘being interesting’ and less focused on ‘taking an interest.’ That’s why many people talk a great deal when they are anxious and why many people never feel heard. If both people and conversation are trying to be interesting, there is no one left to genuinely listen. – John Yokoyama

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

I care about who you are, who you have been, who you want to be. I open myself to you to listen and learn about you. I cherish you, not just my fantasy of who you are, not just who I need you to be, but who you really are… – Betty Berzon

The first duty of love is to listen. – Paul Tillich

We all want to be heard. We want our family and friends to be there for us in times of need. We want other people to listen to our ideas, our feelings and our many thoughts. We all want to be able to talk. But who is willing to listen?

It is not listening if we fill our minds with our own opinions while others speak. It is not listening if instead of trying to understand where others are coming from, we are trying to find ways to defend our point of view. We don’t really listen if we keep silent only with our mouths as others speak.

If we truly want to listen, we keep also the silence in our minds so we can hear what other people are saying. If we truly want to listen, we listen not only to what they are saying, but also to what they may want to share but fail to say. We listen not only with our ears but with our hearts.

There are many times when we think we have already given another person a chance to speak, but what we don’t realize is that we may have failed to really listen enough. If we have listened enough, we may have learned more than what we think we already know. We may have discovered something else that the other person really wanted to say.

We don’t listen just to have a chance to disagree. We listen to show the other person our respect. We listen believing that the other person has something worth saying, if not in words, in things which even words can fail to express. Have you listened enough?

So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger… – James 1:19, WEB

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27, WEB-BE

We were created in God’s own image, you and I. We were made holy, pure and beautiful. We were made to be so full of love.

How much of that image can we see in each other? When we look at another person, are we able to see what’s truly valuable in him or in her?

Quite often, we let people pass us by without even noticing. Who cares who they are? Who cares where they come from?

But each of these people has their own story. Each one has struggles. Each has victories similar to our own.

If we can only learn to look deeply, we’d be able to see through all the masks that people wear. We’d be able to see the true beauty that remains within one’s soul. A soul that can appreciate what’s lovely and good, a soul that can laugh and weep, a soul that can search for wisdom and truth, a soul that can have compassion on another, a soul that has a capacity to love.

Let us learn to value a person not because of his riches or power or physical attributes. Let us learn to value a person because of his soul and his great capacity to love.

“Nothing discernible to the eye of the spirit is more brilliant or obscure than man; nothing is more formidable, complex, mysterious, and infinite. There is a prospect greater than the sea, and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky, and it is the human soul.” – Victor Hugo