More reflections on listening, empathy, and learning together. As Ralph Waldo Emerson challenges us: “To be great is to be misunderstood.”

My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all. ~ Stephen Hawking

A lively understandable spirit / once entertained you. / It will come again. / Be still. / Wait. ~ Theodore Roethke

If you try to put yourself in the other guy's shoes — even for a minute — understanding and compassion will come. ~ Paul Winfield

Understanding a person does not mean condoning; it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were God or a judge placed above him. ~ Erich Fromm

Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood or appreciated. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. ~ Jr. Teague

Everyone hears only what he understands. ~ Johann von Goethe

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. ~ Marie Curie

Having someone who understands is a great blessing for ourselves. Being someone who understands is a great blessing to others. ~ Janette Oke

To understand is to forgive, even oneself. ~ Alexander Chase

The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell. ~ Confucius

I understood. I have understood. I do understand. ~ Isaac Newton

Man's best candle is his understanding. ~ James Howell

Three-fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye... The hand is the cutting edge of the mind. ~ Jacob Bronowski

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who long to be understood and those who long to be misunderstood. It is the irony of life that neither is gratified. ~ Carl Van Vechten