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Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Sir Winston Churchill
To listen. So much more than just to hear. To listen is to pay attention to what you hear, to what someone else is saying. If you listen, you allow sound, or a voice to ‘enter’. In other words: you allow it in, so that you can act on it, it might touch you. You may still not like what you hear, or even not agree with it, but still, you listen.
In fact, listening to music, the same happens. Whenever you hear something for the first time, it is new and unfamiliar. When you really listen to it, you can decide whether you like it or not and then listen to it again later, or not anymore. Even then, it is about learning, learning to know.
By listening, you give something a chance, you listen to someone’s reasons without readying your own opinion. In this way, genuine communication exists, a dialogue.
By listening first and only then acting on it, you gather knowledge and you become wise.
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