Page 194 - Forbes - USA (October 2019)
P. 194
THOUGHTS ON
Listening
“All man’s life among men is “There is a vast melody
nothing more than a battle for woven of a thousand voices
the ears of others.” that never leaves you and
190 Milan Kundera only occasionally leaves room
for your solo.”
“Most people do not listen with Rainer Maria Rilke
the intent to understand; they
listen with the intent to reply.” “You cannot truly listen to
Stephen R. Covey anyone and do anything else
at the same time.”
“A good listener is not someone M. Scott Peck
who has nothing to say. A good
listener is a good talker with a “You can’t fake listening.
sore throat.” It shows.”
Katharine Whitehorn Raquel Welch
“We have two ears and one “The heart of the discerning
mouth, so we should listen acquires knowledge, for the
more than we speak.” ears of the wise seek it out.”
Epictetus Proverbs 18:15
“There’s nothing like “If you don’t listen to
eavesdropping to show you your customers, someone
that the world outside your else will.”
head is different from the Sam Walton
world inside your head.”
Thornton Wilder
“Listening is a primitive act
of love, in which a person
“The art of conversation is Talk Less, Hear Moore: gives self to another’s word.”
the art of hearing as well September 11, 1995 William Stringfellow
as the art of being heard.”
William Hazlitt
He was a true multi-hyphenate, a physicist-billionaire- “She said the music made her
entrepreneur. Gordon Moore was also a man with a knack wonder: Does it alter us more
“Your dreaming self seeks for keeping his eyes and ears open. “A lot of people listen to be heard, or to hear?”
to tell you something your with their mouths,” said Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, the Madeleine Thien
waking ears will not hear.”
company cofounded by Moore 27 years before. “Gordon
Jacqueline Carey
really listens.” Intel was a $54 billion behemoth, the epi-
center of the microchip revolution, and Moore had helped
“The eyes can choose where
to look. But the ears cannot create the company not by “studying management texts”
choose where to listen.” but by quietly observing mistakes committed by his for- FINAL THOUGHT
Ursula K. Le Guin mer companies, semiconductor makers Fairchild and
Shockley. Among the lessons he gathered through careful
“I hear the chorus; it is a listening: Minimize bureaucracy, raise money before you
grand opera. Ah, this indeed is need it and hold regular one-on-one meetings with subor-
music—this suits me.”
dinates in which the direct reports set the agenda. “Such
Walt Whitman
sessions,” he concluded with his trademark succinctness,
“are very efficient for transferring information.” His ef-
“Speak to me. I will spend my forts established enduring success, both for him person-
lifetime trying to understand
you.” ally and for Intel. With Intel stock near its dot-com-era
highs, Moore, now 90, sits at No. 46 on this year’s Forbes
Kamand Kojouri
400 with a $10.3 billion fortune.
“The word ‘listen’ contains SOURCES: THE BOOK OF LAUGHTER AND FORGETTING, BY MILAN KUNDERA; THE “Listening often pays
the same letters as the MATCHMAKER, BY THORNTON WILDER; THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE, better than talking.”
BY STEPHEN R. COVEY; SELECTED ESSAYS, BY WILLIAM HAZLITT; KUSHIEL’S CHOSEN, BY
word ‘silent.’ ” JACQUELINE CAREY; GIFTS, BY URSULA K. LE GUIN; “SONG OF MYSELF,” BY WALT WHITMAN;
LETTERS ON LIFE, BY RAINER MARIA RILKE; THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, BY M. SCOTT PECK; —B.C. Forbes
Alfred Brendel COUNT IT ALL JOY, BY WILLIAM STRINGFELLOW; DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING, BY
MADELEINE THIEN
O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 9
F O R B E S . C O M
