Dale Carnegie & Associates' Listen! Quotes

“Sensitivity to others is no trivial skill; rather,
it is a truly precious human ability. But it isn’t
complex: it requires receptiveness to other people
and a willingness to listen.”
― Dale Carnegie, Listen!: The Art of Effective Communication

“Communications Shutdowns There are certain phrases that can instantly shut down communication between two people. Here is a list of several of them. 1. Don’t be ridiculous. 2. It’ll cost too much. 3. That’s not my responsibility. 4. We don’t have time. 5. We’ve never done that before. 6. That’s not the way we do things around here. 7. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 8. We’re not ready for that. 9. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. 10. It will never sell. 11.  We will become the laughingstock of the entire company. 12.  We tried that before and it didn’t work. 13. It simply can’t be done. 14. It’s too radical a change. 15.  That will make our current equipment obsolete. 16. It’s not really our problem. 17. Let’s get back to reality. 18.  Let’s form a committee to decide. 19.  I need to go over the numbers again. 20. It’s not in our budget. 21.  We have done all right without it all this time. 22. It won’t work here. 23.  OK … if it doesn’t work, you’re the one who’s going to get the blame. 24.  I don’t personally agree … if you insist. 25. Are you crazy? If you find yourself saying any of these, stop. The other person is likely to feel “unheard.” If someone says these things to you, however, you can probe a little to see if you can break the communication shutdown.”
― Dale Carnegie, Listen!: The Art of Effective Communication