Quotes about hearing
page 24

George W. Bush photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Kevin Spacey photo
Edward Dorr Griffin photo
Dejan Stojanovic photo

“We hear only our own voices, still echoes returning to our emptiness.”

Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman

“Stories,” p. 60
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “A Stone and a Word”

Ringo Starr photo
Eric S. Raymond photo

“When I hear the words "social responsibility", I want to reach for my gun.”

Eric S. Raymond (1957) American computer programmer, author, and advocate for the open source movement

When receiving an award from an organization called Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
[Geeks Win: A survey of the oddballs who write the codes that make the 21st-century world go round, The New York Times Book Review, BR18, 03624331, 4 November 2001]

Baba Hari Dass photo

“Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the gunas to be of three kinds only, according to distinctions of gunas; hear them also duly.”

Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition

Bhagavad Gita, Ch XVIII, verse 19
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. XIII-XVIII, 2015

Thomas Gainsborough photo
John Galsworthy photo
John Calvin photo

“When we hear any mention of our mystical union with Christ, we should remember that holiness is the channel to do it.”

John Calvin (1509–1564) French Protestant reformer

Page 17.
Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life (1551)

James Joyce photo

“When I hear the word "stream" uttered with such a revolting primness, what I think of is urine and not the contemporary novel. And besides, it isn't new, it is far from the dernier cri. Shakespeare used it continually, much too much in my opinion, and there's Tristram Shandy, not to mention the Agamemnon.”

James Joyce (1882–1941) Irish novelist and poet

Said in conversation with Frederic Prokosch and quoted in Prokosch's Voices: A Memoir (1983), "At Sylvia’s." Joyce was replying to Prokosch's statement that Molly Bloom’s monologue in Ulysses was written as a stream of consciousness. "Molly Bloom was a down-to-earth lady" said Joyce. "She would never have indulged in anything so refined as a stream of consciousness."

Derren Brown photo
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon photo
Paula Poundstone photo
Hermann Hesse photo
Rupert Boneham photo

“We hear only half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that, and remember only half of that.”

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist

The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified

Abraham photo

“O our Lord! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”

Abraham (-1813–-1638 BC) Biblical patriarch

Prayer during the construction of the Kaaba with Ishmael as quoted in the Koran, Al Baqara 2:127 http://quranx.com/2.127.
Koran

Joe Satriani photo

“It really sucks when music is so perfect you just don't need to hear it anymore.”

Joe Satriani (1956) American guitar player

Discussing his intentionally-out-of-tune intro to "Back To Shalla Bal" and contrasting it to the "perfectness" of Abba's vocals.
As quoted in Guitar Player (November 1989).

Charles Dickens photo
Gerald Ford photo
Michael Gambon photo
Vātsyāyana photo
Patrick Modiano photo
E. W. Howe photo

“When you hear that a certain man is so good that he wants to help everybody, you may depend upon it that he started the story.”

E. W. Howe (1853–1937) Novelist, magazine and newspaper editor

Ventures in Common Sense (1919), p55.

Anna Akhmatova photo

“I hear always the sad voices
of summer
passing like red winged birds
over the high grass”

Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) Russian modernist poet

Red Winged Birds (1917)

Anthony Weiner photo
Anna Akhmatova photo
Alice Cooper photo
Gregory of Nyssa photo
George Long photo
G. I. Gurdjieff photo
Tom Baker photo
Torquato Tasso photo

“Armida smiles to hear, but keeps her gaze
fixed on herself, love's labours to behold.
Her locks she braided and their wanton ways
in lovely order marshalled and controlled.
She wound the curls of her fine strands with sprays
of flowers, like enamel worked on gold,
and made the stranger rose join with her pale
breast's native lily, and composed her veil.”

Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) Italian poet

Ride Armida a quel dir: ma non che cesse
Dal vagheggiarsi, o da' suoi bei lavori.
Poichè intrecciò le chiome, e che ripresse
Con ordin vago i lor lascivi errori,
Torse in anella i crin minuti, e in esse,
Quasi smalto su l'or, consparse i fiori:
E nel bel sen le peregrine rose
Giunse ai nativi giglj, e 'l vel compose.
Canto XVI, stanza 23 (tr. Wickert)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

“Shakespeare
clearly heard may voices. No secret:
voicing means hearing, at a price a gift”

Geoffrey Hill (1932–2016) English poet and professor

The Orchards of Syon II.4-6.
Poetry

Douglas MacArthur photo
Dana Gioia photo
Mitt Romney photo

“I actually think it will be interesting to listen to the President tonight. What I'd like him to do is report on his promises but there are forgotten promises and forgotten people. Over the last four years, the President has said that he was going to create jobs for the American people and that hasn't happened. He said he would cut the deficit in half and that hasn't happened. He said that incomes would rise and instead incomes have gone down. And I think this is a time not for him not to start restating new promises but to report on the promises he made. I think he wants a promises reset. We want a report on the promises he made. And that means let's hear some numbers. Let's hear 16. Sixteen trillion dollars of debt. This is very different than the promise he made. Let's hear the number 47. 47 million people in this country on food stamps. When he took office, 33 million people were on food stamps. Let's understand why it was he's been unsuccessful in helping alleviate poverty in this country. Why so many people have fallen from the middle class into poverty under this president. Let's have him explain to the American people the 50% number. Why 50% of college graduates can't find work or work that is consistent with their college degree. The President needs to report tonight on his promises rather than try and reset a whole series of new promises that he also won't be able to keep.”

Mitt Romney (1947) American businessman and politician

2012-09-06
http://mittromneycentral.com/2012/09/06/romney-on-obamas-speech-tonight-americans-want-a-report-on-presidents-promises/
Romney on Obama’s Speech Tonight: Americans Want A Report On President’s Promises
Mitt Romney Central
2012

M. Balamuralikrishna photo

“By becoming poor and entrusting divine revelation to a carpenter from Nazareth, God makes clear where one has to be in order to hear the divine word and experience divine presence.”

James H. Cone (1938–2018) American theologian

Source: Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (1986), p. 9

Nicolas Bratza photo
Pu Songling photo

“My talents are not those of Kan Pao, elegant explorer of the records of the Gods; I am rather animated by the spirit of Su Tung-P'o, who loved to hear men speak of the supernatural. I get people to commit what they tell me to writing, and subsequently I dress it up in the form of a story; thus in the lapse of time my friends from all quarters have supplied me with quantities of material, which, from my habit of collecting, has grown into a vast pile.”

Pu Songling (1640–1715) Chinese writer

"Author's Own Record", trans. Herbert Allen Giles in Gems of Chinese Literature (1922), p. 235 Variant translation: With time And my love of hoarding, The matter sent me by friends From the four corners Has grown into a pile. "Author's Preface", lines 28–32, trans. John Minford in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Penguin, 2006), pp. 30–31
/ Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (1740)

“On the Indian front, [the Hindutva movement] should spearhead the revival, rejuvenation and resurgence of Hinduism, which includes not only religious, spiritual and cultural practices springing from Vedic or Sanskritic sources, but from all other Indian sources independently of these: the practices of the Andaman islanders and the (pre-Christian) Nagas are as Hindu in the territorial sense, and Sanâtana in the spiritual sense, as classical Sanskritic Hinduism. (…) A true Hindutvavadi should feel a pang of pain, and a desire to take positive action, not only when he hears that the percentage of Hindus in the Indian population is falling due to a coordination of various factors, or that Hindus are being discriminated against in almost every respect, but also when he hears that the Andamanese races and languages are becoming extinct; that vast tracts of forests, millions of years old, are being wiped out forever; that ancient and mediaeval Hindu architectural monuments are being vandalised, looted or fatally neglected; that priceless ancient documents are being destroyed or left to rot and decay; that innumerable forms of arts and handicrafts, architectural styles, plant and animal species, musical forms and musical instruments, etc. are becoming extinct; that our sacred rivers and environment are being irreversibly polluted and destroyed…”

Shrikant Talageri (1958) Indian author

Talageri in S.R. Goel (ed.): Time for Stock-Taking, p.227-228.

Jerome Frank photo

“(1) If a convicted man has the money to pay the docket fee and for a transcript of the proceedings at his trial, the upper federal court, by at least reading the transcript, will ascertain whether or not there was reversible error at the trial, or whether or not there was such a lack of evidence that the defendant is entitled to a new trial or a dismissal of the indictment.
(2) If, however, the defendant is so destitute that he cannot pay the docket fee, and if the trial judge has signed a certificate of 'bad faith,' then although a reading of the transcript shows clear reversible errors, the federal appellate court is powerless to hear the appeal and thus to rectify the errors; and even if the defendant has money enough to pay the docket fee but not enough for a transcript, the upper court usually has no way of determining whether there were such errors, must therefore assume there were none, and must accordingly refuse to consider his appeal. As a consequence, a poor man erroneously convicted-- e. g., where there was insufficient proof of his guilt--must go to prison and stay there. In such a situation-- i. e., where the upper court, if it had the transcript before it, would surely reverse for insufficiency of the evidence or on some other ground, but cannot do so solely because the defendant cannot pay for a transcript-- the result is this: He is punished because he is guilty of the crime of being poor”

Jerome Frank (1889–1957) American jurist

more or less on the principle, openly avowed in Erewhon only, that one who suffers misfortunes deserves criminal punishment
United States v. Johnson, 238 F.2d 565, 568 (1956) (dissenting).

Alice A. Bailey photo
Matthew Lewis (writer) photo
Paul Thurrott photo
Matthew Henry photo

“Hearkners, we say, seldom hear good of themselves.”

Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Theologician from Wales

Ecclesiastes 7.
Commentaries

Clarence Thomas photo
Benjamín Netanyahu photo
John Millington Synge photo
Jeremy Clarkson photo
Kuruvilla Pandikattu photo
David Attenborough photo
Harry V. Jaffa photo
Bono photo

“I wish you were here
I wish you were here
To see what I could see
To hear
And I wish you were here”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

"Stranger in a Strange Land"
Lyrics, October (1981)

Robert Frost photo
David Miscavige photo

“Dave would punch or slap people in the face repeatedly when they delivered bad news, or when people talked back with anything other than what he wanted to hear. I would say over a period of five years between 2000 and 2005 I saw him do this maybe 30 to 40 times. I saw him hit Jeff on at least one or two occasions.”

David Miscavige (1960) leader of the Church of Scientology

Marc Headley referring to incidents involving former Scientology executive, Jeff Hawkins, interviewed in — [Selling Scientology: A Former Scientologist Marketing Guru Turns Against the Church, Matt, Davis, August 7, 2008, http://www.portlandmercury.com/news/selling_scientology/Content?oid=862344, 2010-07-03, The Portland Mercury, Portland, Oregon].
About

Babe Ruth photo

“I'm glad that I've played every position on the team, because I feel that I know more about the game and what to expect of the other fellows. Lots of times I hear men being roasted for not doing this or that when I know, from my all round experience, that they couldn't have been expected to do it. It's a pity some of our critics hadn't learned the game from every position.”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

From "Learn Every Job On Team, Babe's Tip to Success—And Marry" http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1920/08/24/page/11/ by Ruth (as told to Pegler), in The Chicago Tribune (August 24,1920), p. 11; reprinted as "The Game I Enjoyed Most" https://books.google.com/books?id=SAAlxi-0EZYC&pg=PA79 in Playing the Game: My Early Years in Baseball, p. 79

Bill Hybels photo
Ron Paul photo
Greg Giraldo photo

“Hasslehoff, your liver is so shriveled, black, and dead. If you put your ear to your side you can hear it going "What you talking bout Willis."”

Greg Giraldo (1965–2010) American comedian

David Hasslehoff Comedy Central Roast (2010)

Pete Doherty photo
R. A. Lafferty photo
Draft:Udit Narayan photo

“I was blessed with a good voice but not a good life. We didn't have a radio at home, but when I'd hear Mohammad Rafi's voice emit from a neighbour's radio, I'd be mesmerised. I'd sing for 25 paise at small village fairs.”

Draft:Udit Narayan (1955) Playback singer

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/music/news/Id-sing-for-25-paise-at-small-village-fairs-Udit-Narayan/articleshow/27070827.cms

Ryū Murakami photo
Heidi Klum photo

“People in the business always say, "You look fabulous." You get that all the time and it kind of goes in one ear and out the other because most of the time they just say that to make you feel good. It's nice when you hear it from an ordinary person and then I appreciate it.”

Heidi Klum (1973) German model, television host, businesswoman, fashion designer, television producer, and actress

Quoted in Parade Magazine 10 July 2008 http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/archive/pc_0194.html.

Phil Brooks photo

“Punk: [after hearing John Laurinaitis propose a WWE Championship match at Survivor Series against Alberto Del Rio] Okay, pardon me for not being all smiles, that's exactly what I want, but… what's the catch? You gonna make it a handicap match, or is Ricardo Rodriguez the special guest referee? No, are you gonna be the special guest ring announcer with your majestic voice?
Laurinaitis: Punk, there's only one thing you have to do.
Punk: There's one thing I have to do… for you. I have to do something for you to get a title shot? Let me guess—I gotta re-grip your skateboard, you need new ball bearings?
Laurinaitis: You know what, Punk? I know you don't like me, okay? And that's okay. I'm not playing the part of Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, I am the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the General Manager of Raw. So in order for me to make it official, you need to tell me in front of the WWE Universe that you respect me. Tell me that you respect me.
Punk: Are you Aretha Franklin? You want me to tell these people I respect you when I know clearly that you don't respect me 'cause I don't wear a bourgeois suit and I don't tow the company line? You wanna talk about respect? Respect, Johnny, is earned, it isn't just given. And you're gonna come out here and say that when you're in charge, this place… this place is just oh so run like a tight ship. Have you watched the product? We've got rings collapsing, you got Kevin Nash interfering in every other match of mine; this place isn't any better with you in charge. How's that for respect?
Laurinaitis: Punk, you're about to make a big mistake. Okay, swallow your pride, stand up like a man, and tell me that you respect me.
Punk: Okay. All right. Don't get hot. [Imitating Laurinaitis] I respect you, Funk-man. That all right? Was that good enough?
Laurinaitis: I tell you what, Punk. You've got one more chance to show me and tell me you respect me, and I mean it.
Punk: Okay, Mr. Laurinaitis, sir, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and interim Raw General Manager. I respect you. I respect the fact that each week, you come out here in front of the millions of fans in the WWE Universe, live on the USA Network, with this awesome, completely lost deer-in-the-headlights look on your face; I respect the fact that you don't know how close to hold the microphone to your mouth when you speak; I respect the fact that you used to compete in this ring with your awesome Kentucky waterfall mullet, and you were never any good, but you somehow still ascended to the top of the WWE corporate structure, showing the world new-found levels of brown-nosery; but above all, I respect the fact that never before in this business has somebody with so little done so much! I respect you! How's that sound?! Does that sound good enough for you?!”

Phil Brooks (1978) American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist

October 24, 2011
WWE Raw

Henry Kissinger photo

“[Nixon] wants a massive bombing campaign in Cambodia. He doesn't want to hear anything about it. It's an order, to be done. Anything that flies on anything that moves.”

Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State

Phone call with Gen. Alexander Haig (9 December 1970) quoted in National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 123. The quotation was an excerpt from one of several phone conversations in which Kissinger ridiculed Nixon’s views about the war: "When Nixon proposed an escalation in the bombing of Cambodia, Kissinger and Haig felt obliged to humor the president while laughing at him behind his back" (Washington Post, May 27, 2004). Transcript at the National Security Archive http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB123/Box%2029,%20File%202,%20Kissinger%20%96%20Haig,%20Dec%209,%201970%208,50%20pm%20106-10.pdf
1970s

Charles Reis Felix photo
George Sarton photo
Ai Weiwei photo

“Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what’s on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.”

Ai Weiwei (1957) Chinese concept artist

2000-09, The Bold and the Beautiful, 2009

Russell Brand photo
Burkard Schliessmann photo
Rufus Wainwright photo

“But I don’t even think you hear me at all
Under your medieval ceiling behind your biblical wall”

Rufus Wainwright (1973) American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer

Jericho
Song lyrics, Out of the Game (2012)

Czeslaw Milosz photo
Jay-Z photo
Winston S. Churchill photo

“I do not like to hear people talking of England, Germany and Italy forming up against European communism.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Letter to Charles Corbin (French Ambassador to Britain) (31 July 1936), quoted in Martin Gilbert, Prophet of Truth: Winston S. Churchill, 1922–1939 (London: Minerva, 1990), p. 782
The 1930s

Harry Warner photo

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”

Harry Warner (1881–1958) Film studio executive

Full comment: "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk? The music — that's the big plus about this."
Harry Warner, Warner Bros., as movies with sound made their debut in 1927 ( "Tech titans wish we wouldn't quote them on this baloney" http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/maney/2005-07-05-famous-quotes_x.htm)

Brigham Young photo
Ward Churchill photo
Neil Gaiman photo
Garry Kasparov photo
Mitt Romney photo

“And I hear from time to time people say, hey, wait a second, we have civil liberties we have to worry about. But don't forget the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive, and that's what we're going to have to do.”

Mitt Romney (1947) American businessman and politician

Fox News, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Durham, NH, 2007-09-05
2007 campaign for Republican nomination for United States President

Martin Amis photo
Sherman Alexie photo
Richard Steele photo
Nikos Kazantzakis photo
Leigh Hunt photo

“and then we wake,
And hear the fruitful stream lapsing along
Twixt villages, and think how we shall take
Our own calm journey on for human sake.”

Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) English critic, essayist, poet and writer

A Thought of the Nile