Common Ground Quotes

“Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away... and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.... be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don't torment them with your doubts and don't frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn't be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust.... and don't expect any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

“Power and glory are two dialectic energies working in common ground. Taking a glimpse of the meandering under swell of glory in the shade of power, can be very inspiring and illuminating. ("The power and the glory" )”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Individual cultures and ideologies have their appropriate uses but none of them erase or replace the universal experiences, like love and weeping and laughter, common to all human beings.”
― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays

“I hear my father's voice. "Political differences divided what used to be America into The Nationalist States and The Patriot States: Then Nats declared war on the Patriots. Why?"
Olmo answers in an overly enthusiastic tone. "Because they couldn't agree on the division of derritoryes!"
"Territories," corrects Dad.
"That, too," says Olmo cheerfully.”
― Mya Robarts, The V Girl: a Coming of Age Story

“There is nothing sane, merciful, heroic, devout, redemptive, wise, holy, loving, peaceful, joyous, righteous, gracious, remotely spiritual, or worthy of praise where mass murder is concerned. We have been in this world long enough to know that by now and to understand that nonviolent conflict resolution informed by mutual compassion is the far better option.”
― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays

“Somewhere here I want to bring in a learning which has been most rewarding, because it makes me feel so deeply akin to others. I can word it this way. What is most personal is most general. There have been times when in talking with students or staff, or in my writing, I have expressed myself in ways so personal that I have felt I was expressing an attitude which it was probable no one else could understand, because it was so uniquely my own…. In these instances I have almost invariably found that the very feeling which has seemed to me most private, most personal, and hence most incomprehensible by others, has turned out to be an expression for which there is a resonance in many other people. It has led me to believe that what is most personal and unique in each one of us is probably the very element which would, if it were shared or expressed, speak most deeply to others. This has helped me to understand artists and poets as people who have dared to express the unique in themselves.”
― Carl R. Rogers, On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy

“The key to resolving international conflict with a positive outcome includes looking for a win-win situation, finding common ground, formulating proactive strategies, using effective negotiation and communication, and appreciating cultural differences.”
― Amit Ray, Nuclear Weapons Free World - Peace on the Earth

“We all come from different paths in life but we can find common ground.”
― Nanette Mathews

“I celebrate ideals of individual excellence, self-reliance, and personal responsibility… But rugged individualism alone did not get us to the moon. It did not end slavery, win World War II, pass the Voting Rights Act, or bring down the Berlin Wall. It didn’t build our dams, bridges, and highways, or map the human genome. Our most lasting accomplishments require mutual effort and shared sacrifice; this is an idea that is woven into the very fabric of this country.”
― Cory Booker, United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good

“As with everything else, the more we separate ourselves from each other, the weaker we become.”
― Teresa R. Funke, Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life blog

“We share such a beautiful world. If nothing else, may we always find commonality and conversation on that basis”
― Melanie Charlene

“There is a common ground upon which all sincere votaries of truth may meet, exchanging with each other the language of Flamsteed's appeal to Newton, "The works of the Eternal Providence will be better understood through your labors and mine.”
― George Boole, The Mathematical Analysis of Logic

“It can be difficult to find common ground when all some wish to discuss is our differences.”
― C.A.A. Savastano

“It is never too late to be decent to each other.”
― C.A.A. Savastano

“The point of the term “suffering-focused ethics” is ... not to be a novel or impressive contribution to ethical theorizing, but instead to serve as a pragmatic concept that can unite as effective a coalition as possible toward the shared aim of making a real-world difference — to reduce suffering for sentient beings.”
― Magnus Vinding, Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications

“Who knows what goes on in a marriage? Even my parents, who had a compatible marriage, had their points of contention. They had figured out how to disagree and how to find common ground.”
― Ranjani Rao, Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

“We . . . go out into the Waste Land of Experts, each knowing so much about so little that he can neither be contradicted nor is worth contradicting.”
― G.M. Young, Victorian England: Portrait of an Age

“DAD (Decide-Announce-Defend) remains the order of the day, with only a few inspiring models of EDD (Engage-Deliberate-Decide) available to us to demonstrate how very different things could be.”
― Johnathon Porritt

“This deeply free and public space plays a vital role in our world, equally important in our digital age as in Greco-Roman times, when they were marketplaces for goods and ideas. As common ground, squares are equitable and democratic; they have played a fundamental role in the development of free speech.”
― Catie Marron, City Squares: Eighteen Writers on the Spirit and Significance of Squares Around the World

“Reasonable compromise is a founding principle upon which America is based. The large states against the small, the Democrats against the Republicans, the conservatives against the liberals, yet the only way for these groups to coexist is reasonable compromise. We are many people of many backgrounds, and often at cross-purposes. It is easy to use hyperbole and call for violence, shaming, harassment, and shunning. It is simple to justify calling those you dislike evil, but difficult to appreciate that which makes them human and find common ground. We destroy that common ground at our peril, because when there is no common ground left, there is no America.”
― Carmine Savastano

“Reasonable compromise is a founding principle upon which America is based. The large states against the small, the Democrats against the Republicans, the conservatives against the liberals, yet the only way for these groups to coexist are reasonable compromises. We are many people of many backgrounds, and often at cross-purposes. It is easy to use hyperbole and call for violence, shaming, harassment, and shunning. It is simple to justify calling those you dislike evil, but difficult to appreciate that which makes them human and find common ground. We destroy that common ground at our peril, because when there is no common ground left, there is no America.”
― Carmine Savastano

“To find common ground you must be willing to search for it.”
― Carmine Savastano

“I love your dress," Jim's wife says, leaning toward Annika to briefly touch the lace.
"Thank you. The lace is very comfortable on my arms because of the fabric underneath. Otherwise I'd never be able to wear it." Annika says it very matter-of-factly and takes another sip of her club soda and lime.
"Oh, I know what you mean. I had a lace dress once that didn't, and it was so uncomfortable. I ended up giving it away." Jim's wife, Claudia, who is rather quiet and is routinely cold-shouldered by the other, more boisterous wives, has finally found some common ground, and she studies Annika with quiet reverence. Annika's cool aloofness, which is entirely unintentional, has afforded her the upper hand slightly, and I don't think she even realizes it. But even if she did, Annika would never capitalize on it to make herself seem more important. It simply would never occur to her.
"You should try silk," Annika says. "I have a blouse that feels absolutely wonderful against my skin."
"I will," Claudia says. "Thanks for the tip.”
― Tracey Garvis Graves, The Girl He Used to Know

“Shortly after Ryan and I broke up, I returned to the solitude I normally enjoyed, appreciating the simplicity of my life because I no longer had to walk on eggshells around a man. But now that time had passed, the loneliness had started reappearing like a growing tidal wave in the distance. I could feel it building and when it finally reached me, I would spend the rest of the day or night restless and fighting tears. It would eventually pass, but the episodes were becoming more frequent. I tried to fill my days with more social interaction, but that only left me feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. A personal connection with someone was what I craved the most. Someone who understood my needs and was willing to speak my language.
Someone like Jonathan.
I avert my eyes as I answer him. "I don't mind spending time alone, but sometimes I do get very lonely."
Jonathan leans over and puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close as I fight back tears. "Not everyone can look past their own hang-ups to see what I see. It's their loss."
When Jonathan said things like that, it propped me up and took away a little of the sting from the people who'd tried to tear me down or make me feel like a second-class citizen because I viewed things differently than they did. Ten years ago, I might not have been clear on what Jonathan was saying, but that had changed. Tina had taught me that it was important to surround myself with people who understood me. People who were secure about their own place in the world. It wasn't always easy to identify who those people were, but I was much better at it now than I had been in the past.”
― Tracey Garvis Graves, The Girl He Used to Know

“Our interests intersect more than they diverge.”
― David Guymer, Dreadwing

“Read a book then forget the names of characters in it except lead character.”
― Hibis

“Chetta said something about her and Jaxx helping each other,’ he said, keeping his voice level.
‘Why do you talk like that, anyway?’ Chetta asked, ignoring him. ‘What’s wrong with saying “you”?’
‘Who is “you”?’ Jaxx laughed. ‘You, Chetta? You, women? You, nobles? You, everyone-who-isn’t-Jaxx? Other houses speak sideways, think backwards, walk at angles. Goliaths talk straight and act true. Goliaths have no time for misunderstandings.’ He grunted. ‘Goliaths have no time.’
Chetta nodded. ‘And your apparent aversion to the word “I”? There surely can’t be any confusion about that.’
Jaxx shrugged. ‘Jaxx won’t live long. Jaxx needs his name to be remembered.”
― Mike Brooks, A Common Ground

“Effective leaders can work effectively with different people. Even when they differ in opinion, they find common ground to accomplish a common goal.”
― Gift Gugu Mona, The Effective Leadership Prototype for a Modern Day Leader

“Equality of condition and equality of opportunity must provide the foundation of an interdependent nation with building blocks found in dignity and respect given to every American, regardless of socioeconomic status.”
― Julie Banks Lewis, Critical Masses: Who Wins, Who Loses, Who Decides

“What’s important is, who needs to move where? Does the incrementalist need to move closer to the completionist’s view or vice versa? In either case, you’ve got to use the simplest trick in the conflict resolution book : finding common ground. A better way to think about this is, “What do these disparate philosophies need from each other?”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager