Famous quotes containing the word listening:
“The parent is the strongest statement that the child hears regarding what it means to be alive and real. More than what we say or do, the way we are expresses what we think it means to be alive. So the articulate parent is less a telling than a listening individual.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)
“Listening to learn isn’t about giving advice—at least not until asked—but about trying to understand exactly what someone means, how it is that someone looks at and feels about her particular situation.... Listening to learn from a daughter in adolescence, conspiring with her thoughts and feelings, keeps a mother in touch with a daughter’s growing and changing self.”
—Elizabeth Debold (20th century)
“The tension to mother the “right” way can leave a peculiar silence within mother daughter relationships—the silence of a mother’s own truth and experience. Within this silence, a daughter’s authentic voice can also fall silent. This is the silence of perfection. This silence of perfection prevents mothers from listening and learning from their daughters.”
—Elizabeth Debold (20th century)