It takes two people to say a thing—a sayer and a sayee. The one is just as essential to any true saying as the other. (Samuel Butler, Victorian-era English author)
Listening may be a lost art. With the ability to text and receive messages almost instantaneously, we’ve become accustomed to reading both sides of a cyber “conversation.” When we talk to others face-to-face, however, it’s easy to rush our answers, like an instant “oral text.” Instead, we need to listen carefully before we respond.
To answer before listening— that is folly and shame (Proverbs 18:13).