Krista Tippett has built a career on listening. Through her award-winning public radio show and podcast, On Being, she listens to people from all religious and spiritual traditions, learning about what it means to be human and how to live life. So she seemed like the perfect person to speak to about the lost art of listening.

Image by Chris Daniels. Used with permission.

BOOKS

Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and the Art of Living

Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters–And How to Talk about It

QUOTES

“The thing about listening – about real listening – is that it involves vulnerability. If you are really open to asking an honest question and you really want to hear the answer, you have to create the possibility that you will be surprised and that you might be changed. Not necessarily that you will change your mind, but that your perspective will become nuanced.”

“One of the ways we’ve defined listening in Western culture as we’ve gotten bad at it is that listening is when you stop talking so the other person can say what they have to say until it’s your turn to talk again.”