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Portrait of Marshall B. Rosenberg

Marshall B. Rosenberg

283 quotes in 865 categories

Marshall B. Rosenberg’s words invite you into a space of genuine listening and understanding. This collection highlights his most compassionate insights on nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, and the power of empathy.

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Marshall Bertram Rosenberg was an American psychologist, mediator, author, and teacher.

Quick Facts About Marshall B. Rosenberg

Notable works: Nonviolent Communication

About Marshall B. Rosenberg

Marshall Bertram Rosenberg was an American psychologist, mediator, author, and teacher. Starting in the early 1960s, he developed nonviolent communication, a process for supporting partnership and resolving conflict within people, relationships, and society. He worked worldwide as a peacemaker, and in 1984 founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international nonprofit organization for which he served as Director of Educational Services. Rosenberg's motivation for developing nonviolent communication was based on his own experiences at the Detroit race riot of 1943, as well as the antisemitism that he experienced in his early life.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Quotes by Marshall B. Rosenberg

Never do anything that isn't play.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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Ask before offering advice or reassurance.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Advice

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Always hear the 'Yes' in the 'No'.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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Avoid 'shoulding' on others and yourself!

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Avoid

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Translate all self-judgments into self-empathy.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Empathy

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When we judge others we contribute to violence.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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We need to receive empathy to give empathy.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Empathy

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All human actions are an attempt to meet needs.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Action

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What all the basic religions are saying is this: Don't do anything that isn't play.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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People don't make us angry, how we think makes us angry.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Angry

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Blaming and punishing others are superficial expressions of anger.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Anger

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A difficult message to hear is an opportunity to enrich someone's life.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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As long as I think I 'should' do it, I'll resist it, even if I want very much to do it.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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My anger tells me firstly that there's a need of mine that's not getting met.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Anger

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Violence in any form is a tragic expression of our unmet needs.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Crime

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We use NVC to evaluate ourselves in ways that engender growth rather than self-hatred.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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When we make mistakes, we can use the process of NVC mourning and self-forgiveness to show us where we can grow instead…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Caught

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If we wish to express anger fully, the first step is to divorce the other person from any responsibility for our anger.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Anger

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Make your goal to attend to your underlying needs and to aim for a resolution so satisfying that everyone involved has their…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Aim

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Never hear what somebody thinks about you, you'll live longer. Hear that they're in pain. Don't hear their analysis.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Analysis

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You can't make your kids do anything. All you can do is make them wish they had. And then, they will make…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Child

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The only time a message (label) can scare us is if we think there is such a thing, and that such a…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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While we may not consider the way we talk to be 'violent,' our words often lead to hurt and pain, whether for…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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We want to take action out of the desire to contribute to life rather than out of fear, guilt, shame, or obligation.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Action

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When you ride the wave, the thrill is so exhilarating that you forget everything else. You live in the moment where nothing…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Adventure

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The kind of spirituality I value is one in which you get great joy out of contributing to life, not just sitting…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Action

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The number one reason that we don't get our needs met, we don't express them. We express judgments. If we do express…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Clear

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NVC enhances inner communication by helping us translate negative internal messages into feelings and needs. Our ability to distinguish our own feelings…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Ability

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Natural Giving: Anything we do in life which is not out of that energy, we pay for and everybody else pays for.…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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Needs are never conflicting. When we say that, we are only saying that at the moment we aren't seeing how both needs…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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As NVC replaces our old patterns of defending, withdrawing or attacking in the face of judgment and criticism. We come to perceive…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Attacking

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Some people use NVC to respond compassionately to themselves, some to create greater depth in their personal relationships, and still others to…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Arena

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I'm going to show you a technology today which takes insults and criticisms out of the airwaves. (Marshall puts on giraffe ears)…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Blame

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We never really know what we want until after we get it. If after we get it, it makes life more miserable,…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Asks

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To do this, you can bring in nothing from the past. So the more psychology you've studied, the harder it will be…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Alive

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Peace requires something far more difficult than revenge or merely turning the other cheek; it requires empathizing with the fears and unmet…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Connections

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I recommend allowing others the opportunity to fully express themselves before turning our attention to solutions or requests for relief. When we…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Allowing

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Any evaluation which implies rightness or wrongness is a tragic, suicidal expression of an unmet need. Tragic, first because it decreases our…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Communication

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The Chinese philosopher Chuang-Tzu stated that true empathy requires listening with the whole being: The hearing that is only in the ears…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Chinese

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If you think ahead to what to say next - like how to fix it or make the person feel better -…

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Boards

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Marshall B. Rosenberg by topic

Communication (194) Nonviolent communication (193) Needs (91) Empathy (55) People (50) Persons (32) Ifs (32) Thinking (29) Way (26) Life (25) Feelings (25) Giving (23) Want (21) Compassion (20) Pain (19) Inspirational (18) Time (17) Use (16) Violence (15) Mets (15) Judgment (15) Anger (15) May (13) Expression (13) Crime (13)