--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Quen said. “Listen before you draw your…" description: "\"“Quen said. “Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest you alienate your allies.”\" — Kim Harrison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png" --- # Quen said. “Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest… ![“Quen said. “Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest you alienate your allies.” quote by Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png) > ““Quen said. “Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest you alienate your allies.”” [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Before conflict, listen to avoid alienating allies; understanding prevents unnecessary battles. **In simple terms:** Listen before fighting to keep allies. Key Takeaway Seek understanding before confrontation. Themes conflict allies communication Mood cautious thoughtful Type advisory strategic When to use this quote - team meetings - negotiations - political debates Key Concepts strategic listening relationship management Questions to Reflect On - How often do we overlook listening in disputes? - What are the costs of alienating allies? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alienate Allies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alienate-allies-4634183/) [Battle Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/battle-lines-4634185/) [Lest Alienate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lest-alienate-4634184/) [Quen Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quen-said-5115153/) [Said Listen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-listen-3043568/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest you alienate your allies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/listen-before-you-draw-your-battle-lines-lest-you-alienate-your-allies/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“Listen to me," Audra said. "Listen good. You don't get to touch me anymore. Not ever. You don't own me, or my children. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haylen-beck/listen-to-me-audra-said-listen-good-you-don-t-get-to-touch-me-anymore/) [Haylen Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haylen-beck/) > [I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/i-am-writing-to-you-because-she-said-you-listen-and-understand-and-3/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [Videos destroyed the vitality of rock and roll. Before that, music said, "Listen to me." Now it says, "Look at me."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/videos-destroyed-the-vitality-of-rock-and-roll-before-that-music-said/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [“You'll be just fine," he said. "Listen to your heart and mind together, that's the trick. Not one or the other, both.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-palmieri/you-ll-be-just-fine-he-said-listen-to-your-heart-and-mind-together/) [Suzanne Palmieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-palmieri/) > [“Baby,” he said, “listen to me. I ain’t beautiful, you are. You’re so damn beautiful you got it spillin’ out all over the place,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-sheehan/baby-he-said-listen-to-me-i-ain-t-beautiful-you-are-you-re-so-damn/) [Madeline Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-sheehan/) > [He said, "Listen to these words. That I have lived by my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nevershoutnever/he-said-listen-to-these-words-that-i-have-lived-by-my-whole-life/) [Nevershoutnever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nevershoutnever/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [“The world," said Pavone, "will swing to the left. The whole world except America. The world will swing, not because people read Karl Marx,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/the-world-said-pavone-will-swing-to-the-left-the-whole-world-except/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a batter. Love is a war. Love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-does-not-begin-and-end-the-way-we-seem-to-think-it-does-love-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People came to our house from far and wide. Party and military bigwigs, some guy known as the “combat commander,” the village headman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/people-came-to-our-house-from-far-and-wide-party-and-military-bigwigs/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Kim Harrison > [Maybe I could be friends with a ghost. I wouldn’t be able to kill him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/maybe-i-could-be-friends-with-a-ghost-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-kill-him/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [My God", he whispered. What have I done to her? He thought, humbled. The spell was broken, but it wasn't sealed, and her soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/my-god-he-whispered-what-have-i-done-to-her-he-thought-humbled-the/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [I turned back to the mirror, seeing that there were no lines on it. It was empty. "What happened to my mirror?" I said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/i-turned-back-to-the-mirror-seeing-that-there-were-no-lines-on-it-it/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“Half of it was meticulously arranged as an office with her computer - faster and more powerful than an industrial-sized package of laxative -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/half-of-it-was-meticulously-arranged-as-an-office-with-her-computer/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [Actually,” I said, hesitant to bring it up, “I was thinking along the lines of a curse that can turn you human.” “Or witch?”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/actually-i-said-hesitant-to-bring-it-up-i-was-thinking-along-the/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“I’m giving you fair warning, Mr. Cormel. If you bespell Rachel, I’ll open up your head for the sunshine to come in.” - Jenks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/i-m-giving-you-fair-warning-mr-cormel-if-you-bespell-rachel-i-ll-open/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [The demon had trouble remembering what she was doing, but she was powerful, sort of the crazy Wendy of the lost lord-of-the-flies boys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/the-demon-had-trouble-remembering-what-she-was-doing-but-she-was/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [Your hair is a tangled mess,"he said, thinking he liked it that way, like a lion's mane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/your-hair-is-a-tangled-mess-he-said-thinking-he-liked-it-that-way/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [Keep your vampire mitts off me. I'm not your friggin' blood toy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/keep-your-vampire-mitts-off-me-i-m-not-your-friggin-blood-toy/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“From my ear Jenks snickered. “Awwww, you two are so sweet, I could fart fairy balls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/from-my-ear-jenks-snickered-awwww-you-two-are-so-sweet-i-could-fart/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [Uh... ," Ivy stammered, and I glanced up to see her eyes wide in consideration. "I'm kidding," I said. "It passed the lethal-amulet test,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/uh-ivy-stammered-and-i-glanced-up-to-see-her-eyes-wide-in/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [I'll always be here," he said softly. "You can never fill my need, never drive me away, no matter how much you give me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/i-ll-always-be-here-he-said-softly-you-can-never-fill-my-need-never/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“I hoped he was right. I’d never heard of a university refusing money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/i-hoped-he-was-right-i-d-never-heard-of-a-university-refusing-money/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“The rag he'd used to clean the table went into the fire behind him. "I saw what you are," he said, "and I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/the-rag-he-d-used-to-clean-the-table-went-into-the-fire-behind-him-i/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“I’m not afraid of love being difficult. If it was easy, then everyone would find it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/i-m-not-afraid-of-love-being-difficult-if-it-was-easy-then-everyone/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) [Explore all 672 Kim Harrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) ## More War quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [“People came to our house from far and wide. Party and military bigwigs, some guy known as the “combat commander,” the village headman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/people-came-to-our-house-from-far-and-wide-party-and-military-bigwigs/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a batter. Love is a war. Love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-does-not-begin-and-end-the-way-we-seem-to-think-it-does-love-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The world," said Pavone, "will swing to the left. The whole world except America. The world will swing, not because people read Karl Marx,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/the-world-said-pavone-will-swing-to-the-left-the-whole-world-except/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I don't want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-go-into-space-because-of-war-i-think-we-would-if-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/if-i-had-to-guess-and-put-a-name-on-it-i-d-say-that-at-some-point-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. But they mix in the middle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/fear-and-desire-for-pleasure-aggressiveness-comes-out-of-fear/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“Peace requires a discipline more iron than war. - Easter, 1939 ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-j-turner/peace-requires-a-discipline-more-iron-than-war-easter-1939/) [W.J. Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-j-turner/) [Browse all 38,922 War quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Quen said. “Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest you alienate your allies.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kim Harrison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-battle-lines-lest-you-alienate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "War" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-battle-lines-lest-you-alienate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d0/kim-harrison-323_war_quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-ba_1434324.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Quen said. “Listen before you draw your battle lines, lest you alienate your allies.” — Kim Harrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kim Harrison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Quen said. “Listen before you draw...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-battle-lines-lest-you-alienate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/quen-said-listen-before-you-draw-your-battle-lines-lest-you-alienate/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```