70 Listening Quotes for More Meaningful Conversations

To help you pay better attention to your surroundings and the people around you, read through these listening quotes we’ve compiled!

Listening is one of the first and most important skills our parents have instilled in us. When we were young, we were always taught to listen when someone was talking.

Through time, it’s become a habit and an essential part of communicating with others.

When we listen, we hear different ideas, different opinions, and different stories that can add new wisdom to our lives. Sadly, many people aren’t good listeners.

They hear what people are saying but don’t actually understand the meaning behind the other person’s words.

So, to help you become a good listener, read through the quotes we’ve compiled below!

Check out the complete list below.

And don’t miss out these understanding quotes and giving quotes.

Best Listening Quotes

1. “When we listen, we hear someone into existence.” – Laurie Buchana

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

3. “Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

4. “Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet.” – Krista Tippett 

5. “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.” – Karl A. Menninger

6. “Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another which both attracts and heals.” – L. J. Isham 

7. “Listening is an art that requires attention over talent, spirit over ego, others over self.” – Dean Jackson

8. “Listen to the wind; it talks. Listen to the silence; it speaks. Listen to your heart; it knows.” – Native American Proverb

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

10. “Listening is one of the loudest forms of kindness.” – Anonymous

11. “You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen—not just money but respect.” – Harvey Mackay

12. “Effective listeners remember that words have no meaning—people have meaning.” – Larry Barker

13. “Listen with your eyes as well as your ears.” – Graham Speechley

14. “You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.” – M. Scott Peck

Listening Quotes That’ll Make You a Good Listener

15. “You cannot see someone unless you are willing to listen to them.” – Andre Freimann

16. “Listening to others’ viewpoints may reveal the one thing needed to complete your goals.” – D. Ridgley

17. “A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while, he gets to know something.” – Wilson Mizner

18. “The worst of all listeners is the man who does nothing but listens.” – Charles Dickens

19. “Those who have a listening heart can hear the song of silence.” – Debasish Mridha

20. “Listening is often the only thing needed to help someone.” – Anonymous

21. “Just the act of listening means more than you can imagine.” – Bob Nelson

22. “Listen to understand rather than listen to respond.” – Barack Obama

23. “There is only one rule for being a good talker—learn to listen.” – Anonymous

Also read: Empathy Quotes

Thought-Provoking Listening Quotes for Your Inquisitive Mind

24. “All wisdom was the result of listening to one’s own soul.” – Paulo Coelho

25. “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have rather talked.” – Mark Twain

26. “Listen to your elder’s advice. Not because they are always right, but because they have more experience of being wrong.” – Anonymous

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

28. “Talk a little less, listen a little more, and you’ll be a lot wiser.” – Eric Gibbons

29. “Listening is the secret to discovering great stories.” – Fyrefly London

30. “Stop and listen. The story is everywhere.” – Thomas Lloyd Qualls

31. “Listen with your heart, you will understand.” – Pochahontas 

32. “Listening is an effect. Communication is the cause.” – Meir Ezra

Listening Quotes That’ll Open Your Mind to New Ideas

33. “Leaders are listeners; start listening. Listening happens through eyes; stay focused.” – C Muthu Palaniappan

34. “Listen with your mouth closed and your heart open.” – Christine Toda

35. “To say that a person feels listened to means a lot more than just their ideas get heard. It’s a sign of respect. It makes people feel valued.” – Deborah Tannen

36. “I remind myself every morning: nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” – Larry King

37. “If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talking.” – Robert Baden-Powell

Listening Quotes to Learn More About Success

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

39. “Part of being successful is about asking questions and listening to the answers.” – Anne Burrell

40. “The art of effective listening is essential to clear communication, and clear communication is necessary to management success.” – James Cash Penney

41. “Another vitally important attribute along the road to wisdom in interpersonal success is to listen well, or what should be understood as active listening.” – Catherine Pulsifer

42. “Be silent and listen. You will hear the keys to success.” – Anonymous

43. “Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.” – Anonymous

44. “The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It’s terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys.” – Sam Walton

Short Listening Quotes That You Must Read Today

45. “You can’t fake listening. It shows.” – Raquel Welch

46. “Listen to many, speak to a few.” – William Shakespeare

47. “Don’t think or judge, just listen.” – Sarah Dessen

48. “Listen with ears of tolerance.” – Rumi

49. “Listen, and you’ll be heard.” – Abhijit Naskar

50. “It is hard to listen while you are talking.” – Rachel Cusk

51. “If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” – Turkish Proverb

52. “To be heard, you must first listen.” – Abhijit Naskar

53. “The intelligent talk and the wise listen.” – Raheel Farooq

54. “Listen with your eyes for feelings.” – Stephen Covey

55. “Listen with the will to learn.” – Unarine Ramaru

Listening Quotes That Zoom in on Its Value

56. “Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” – A. A. Milne

57. “An appreciative listener is always stimulating.” – Agatha Christie

58. “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway

59. “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” – Dalai Lama

More Quotes About Listening 

60. “Listening fast, and caring immediately, is a skill in itself.” – Amanda Palmer

61. “The older I grow, the more I listen to people who don’t talk much.” – Germain G. Glidden

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

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

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

65. “With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing.” – Catherine Doherty 

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

67. “You have to be willing sometimes to listen to some remarkably bad opinions. Because if you say to someone, ‘That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard; get on out of here!’ Then you’ll never get anything out of that person again, and you might as well have a puppet on a string or a robot.” – John Bryan

68. “Listen with grace, with no judgment, without imposing the law.” – Joseph Prince

69. “Honor your relationships by developing listening skills.” – Allan Lokos

70. “Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.” – Alan Alda

Do You Consider Yourself a Good Listener?

Listening to other people is one way of showing respect. It shows them that we are making an effort and we care, regardless of whatever they say. If we know how to listen, it would not be hard to show our love and affection to others.

When we listen, we don’t only pay attention to what is being said; we also build our way of communicating with one another. We begin to learn new things and new perspectives from the people we listen to. This is because understanding is cultivated when we genuinely listen to what others say.

If we just hear without understanding, then nothing would come out of our communication with others. So, we must listen, understand, and then act based on what we’ve learned.

Remember, what we give is what we receive, which means that if we lend our ears to others, they will do the same thing. Simply speaking, if you want to be heard, you must first learn to listen.

We hope we were able to inspire you through the meaningful quotes we’ve included in this collection. Let these listening quotes serve as your guide whenever you need to communicate well with others!

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Karen Danao

Hi, I’m Karen, a content curator and writer for Quote Ambition; I’m also a marketing and advertising professional. Beyond the keyboard and the screen, I’m someone who’s out to enjoy every bit that life has to offer!

Poetry, philosophy, history, and movies are all topics I love writing about! However, my true passion is in traveling, photography, and finding common ground to which everyone from different cultures can relate.

With the many places I’ve been to, I found that love, inspiration, and happiness are some things that bring people together. No matter how different we are on the outside, I’m a true believer that our emotions don’t lie; if you dig deep into our psyche, we’re all the same inside.

This belief was further amplified when I joined Quote Ambition. Through the quotes I’ve read, collected, organized, and written about, I found that humans are resilient, creative, and compassionate.

We take from each others’ hearts and courage, and it’s through our individual experiences that we learn how to rise above our challenges and pain. In so many ways, Quote Ambition is a platform that allows people from all over the world to gain the inspiration they need anytime, anywhere!

You can find me on MuckRack and LinkedIn.