UNDERSTAND?

"Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand."

Saint Augustine, 3rd century theologian.

Belief first; understanding will follow and when it does you can then decide what to do with what you now understand.

Not before.

LISTEN TO THIS

"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say."

Bryant H. McGill, 20th/21st century American author/speaker

Make no mistake about it, listening is much more than simply hearing words spoken by someone else.

Real listening requires you understand the other person's point of view. It is not the time to accept or reject what the other person says, that will come later.

Understand? 

UNDERSTAND?

"Mystery is not profoundness."

Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832) British clergyman/sportsman/author.

There are many things we don't understand, far more than those we do.

And while it is good to learn as much as possible, some of what we don't know is not worth learning.

The difficult part is deciding which is which.

UNDERSTANDING DIGNITY

"Our dignity is not in what we do, but what we understand."

George Santayana (1863-1952) American philosopher/poet

There is a very important, very subtle distinction between these two.

Think about how much you do versus how much you understand. 

If you are like most there is quite a bit more of the former, much less of the latter.

Ideally they would be equal.

Listen To That

"Two great talkers will not travel far together."

Spanish proverb

Sometimes the best you can say is nothing at all.

Above All Else, Understand

"I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them."

Benedict de Spinoza

17th century Dutch Jewish philosopher

I know I've visited this notion in other quotes but it is too important not to risk overstating.

If we did nothing more than understand the views of others there would be almost no limit to what we could accomplish.

Important in business, certainly, but in all things we do as well.

The Art of Misunderstanding

"They have the unique ability to listen to one story and understand another."

Pandora Poikilos

20th/21st century author

Even when we try to understand the views of others, we often don't.

Can you think of anything more important than comprehending what others have to say to you?

And note I said comprehending, which is not necessarily the same as agreeing with or accepting.

The Power of Comprehension

"Tis better to understand than to be understood."

Unknown

How true is this?

Think what you can accomplish when you really do understand, regardless of what those around you know or believe they know.