Listening quotes
1.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside listening — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"Look at Nelson Mandela. Why did people want to follow him? He's a lousy speaker. If he hadn't got all the other things, you wouldn't spend time listening to him. But people actually don't listen to what he's saying, in a way. They are listening to him because he has communicated that he is ready to put his life on the line."
"The live audience, just getting an instant reaction off of an audience is the best part[of the show]. Being in the studio and working on your songs and listening to them back and doing all that - it's a lot of fun, but having that instant reaction and being able to work and vibe with an audience is the best part."
"Here are a few ways to face a habit and say "no" to it: Go outside your fixed routine; turn off the computer and the television; find a new outlet for your down time; talk to someone who holds a viewpoint contrary to yours and pay respectful attention, really listening."
"Listening is a discipline. It's all about being present at that moment in time."
"My mother knew how to read music and everything. But I just kinda learned off of records. And so, I was listening to records and I'd play 'em over and over."
"I also combined the R&B feel with the pop music of Taiwan... I wanted to bring the R&B flavor and other Westernized sounds to my music, because that's the type of music I grew up listening to."
"The biggest challenge in working together is simply listening."
"Everyone else had the look of tired patience people always got when listening to a sermon, no matter what the century."
"Scientists are adding an extra second to the year 2015. Yeah. Here's the bad news. You just wasted it listening to this joke."
"Sometimes I'll say, "When Sandy Bullock and I were doing Speed - the movie, not the drug." Just in case someone's listening."
"As a teenager I was very clear that I wasn't in the church just to toe the line, but I saw there was a capacity within Christianity and the bible not to fall into line but to question the status quo, that's what kept me in the church. I was listening to the sort of music that did that questioning."
"Failure comes when you don’t listen. You can’t put something out there and assume it’s great. It’s up to us to make sure we’re listening to improve our chances for success-if not this time, next time."
"I fell in love with music by listening to R&B, & it's the core of who I am."
"I got really tired of metal music. How do you pick what's good to sell when you're not totally into what you're listening to and marketing?"
"During the Cold War, we gathered information by listening to the Soviets, taking pictures of the Soviets, and we allowed our human intelligence to decline."
"You can beat the drum so hard that people stop listening. I wanted to use my voice wisely and not expend it wastefully."
"At the end of the day, you have to make sure you're at least listening to what your head is telling you, what your heart is telling you. That's hard to do when there are a million other people shouting as loud as they can."
"John Kricfalusi is very talented; he used to really piss me off. But I did good work, you know? The Ren & Stimpy show without me was totally unsuccessful. So if there's anybody listening out there with any doubts about what I can do for a show: Try me. The thing is, I wasn't about to stop doing a job."
"I grew up listening to a lot of that stuff, Motown and Stooges. But also early rock-and-roll like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. I feel like as I grew older, I've been working with different musicians, people that have are constantly showing me different things."
"One never hugs one's good luck so affectionately as when listening to the relation of some horrible misfortunes which has overtaken others."
