Seek first to understand, then to be understood

I love this. He's one of my favorite authors. I think everybody could use this advice... how many times have you been talking to someone and feels like they're just waiting for their turn to talk? It's so frustrating! It seems like all people want to do is complain about the same things time and time again. If they felt like someone had actually listened to them and understood where they were coming from, they could let it go and move on rather than dwell on it.

It is a very good advice for inter-personal dealings. A lot of people tend to expect to be understood rather than making the efforts to understand. We always ask but never give. Everybody likes to be heard. The ability to listen well is certainly a quality as important as the ability to speak. Dialogue and people relationship is a 2 way communication. If we all can be humble enough to listen first than talk later, to understand first than seek to be understood later, this will be a much, much better world.