--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be alive is to listen quietly while…" description: "\"To be alive is to listen quietly while other people talk. That's how you learn something.\" — Rachel Kushner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/rachel-kushner-3631_alive_to-be-alive-is-to-listen-quietly-while-o_2871674.png" --- # To be alive is to listen quietly while other people talk… ![“To be alive is to listen quietly while other people talk. That's how you learn something.” quote by Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/rachel-kushner-3631_alive_to-be-alive-is-to-listen-quietly-while-o_2871674.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/rachel-kushner-3631_alive_to-be-alive-is-to-listen-quietly-while-o_2871674.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/rachel-kushner-3631_alive_to-be-alive-is-to-listen-quietly-while-o_2871674.png) > “To be alive is to listen quietly while other people talk. That's how you learn something.” [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Listening quietly while others speak is essential for learning. **In simple terms:** Quiet listening enables learning. Key Takeaway Practice active listening. Themes communication learning humility Mood reflective calm Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - classroom settings - team meetings - interviews - conflict resolution Key Concepts epistemology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does silence affect perception? - What habits improve listening? A Different Perspective Silence can be misinterpreted as disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [If you listen quietly enough life will whisper its secrets to you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/if-you-listen-quietly-enough-life-will-whisper-its-secrets-to-you/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) > [If we are honest with ourselves and listen quietly ... we all harbor one fiercely held aspiration for our healthcare - that it keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-onie/if-we-are-honest-with-ourselves-and-listen-quietly-we-all-harbor-one/) Rebecca Onie > [“Sometimes challenging situations lead to beautiful life changing opportunities... so listen to them because they're quietly spoken!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesam-fawzi/sometimes-challenging-situations-lead-to-beautiful-life-changing/) [Wesam Fawzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesam-fawzi/) > [Do U Understand Jus Whut Ya Are To Me Man Baby You're The Air I Breathe You're My Everything So Listen To Me I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justice-garcia/do-u-understand-jus-whut-ya-are-to-me-man-baby-you-re-the-air-i/) [Justice Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justice-garcia/) > [Our Land is alive, Esperanza...This whole valley breathes and lives...He picked up a handful of earth and studied it. Did you know that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-mu-oz-ryan/our-land-is-alive-esperanza-this-whole-valley-breathes-and-lives-he/) [Pam Muñoz Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-mu-oz-ryan/) > [Just as you must eat, drink, and breathe to live, you must read the Bible, pray, and be involved in a church to stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-laurie/just-as-you-must-eat-drink-and-breathe-to-live-you-must-read-the/) [Greg Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-laurie/) > [LISTEN: If you ever wondered what you would do if you were alive in the Civil Rights Movement, NOW IS THE TIME to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-king/listen-if-you-ever-wondered-what-you-would-do-if-you-were-alive-in/) [Shaun King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-king/) > [The erotic and the art historical imagination is something that gets very little play when people talk about my work, and when they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/the-erotic-and-the-art-historical-imagination-is-something-that-gets/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [“People talk about history and things like slavery, genocide, and religious persecution as horrors that happened in the past because we were ignorant. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-matthew-nespoli/people-talk-about-history-and-things-like-slavery-genocide-and/) [J. Matthew Nespoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-matthew-nespoli/) > [I think audibles, the way people talk about it, it's overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-flacco/i-think-audibles-the-way-people-talk-about-it-it-s-overrated/) [Joe Flacco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-flacco/) > [“Wilem snorted."That doesn't sound suspicious at all," he said. "And you wonder why people talk about you." "I don't wonder why they talk," I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/wilem-snorted-that-doesn-t-sound-suspicious-at-all-he-said-and-you/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't have alot of people to talk to. Not alot of people are worth my time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-peters/i-don-t-have-alot-of-people-to-talk-to-not-alot-of-people-are-worth/) [Julie Anne Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-peters/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I think when people talk about art imitating life, you're in real time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-think-when-people-talk-about-art-imitating-life-you-re-in-real-time/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Rachel Kushner > [Leave, with no answer. Move on to the next question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/leave-with-no-answer-move-on-to-the-next-question/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [Motorcycles aren't about gaining agency, I don't think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/motorcycles-aren-t-about-gaining-agency-i-don-t-think/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [“Gloria was still talking, something about how shooting people was in a sense safer than making art, in terms of avoiding serious lapses in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/gloria-was-still-talking-something-about-how-shooting-people-was-in-a/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [“Because I didn't move here to fall in love. The desire for love is universal but that has never meant it's worthy of respect.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/because-i-didn-t-move-here-to-fall-in-love-the-desire-for-love-is/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [Authenticity is too big a subject to just toss in with the question about the photographs!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/authenticity-is-too-big-a-subject-to-just-toss-in-with-the-question/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [“We were in separate realities, fast and slow. There is no fixed reality, only objects in contrast.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/we-were-in-separate-realities-fast-and-slow-there-is-no-fixed-reality/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [It's really a misconception to identify the writer with the main character, given that the author creates all the characters in the book. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/it-s-really-a-misconception-to-identify-the-writer-with-the-main/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [People are complicated. Personally I don't go in for puritanical people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/people-are-complicated-personally-i-don-t-go-in-for-puritanical-people/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [I am a rereader. Quality is variety if you wait long enough. Barthes, Baudelaire, Benjamin, Celine, Duras, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Melville: There is so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/i-am-a-rereader-quality-is-variety-if-you-wait-long-enough-barthes/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [“But I had seen, the night I met her, that her beauty was going to leave her like it does all women. For the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/but-i-had-seen-the-night-i-met-her-that-her-beauty-was-going-to-leave/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [When I see things in the world that leap out at me, I want to make use of them in fiction. Maybe every writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/when-i-see-things-in-the-world-that-leap-out-at-me-i-want-to-make-use/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [While it might be true that our reality would suggest that more writers would address these elemental issues of modern life - work, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/while-it-might-be-true-that-our-reality-would-suggest-that-more/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [And here I arrive at my point. The point is that everyone has a different dream. The point is that it is a grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/and-here-i-arrive-at-my-point-the-point-is-that-everyone-has-a/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [I guess I still feel that way and yet I'm slightly hesitant to insist on that idea, that it "better be fun for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/i-guess-i-still-feel-that-way-and-yet-i-m-slightly-hesitant-to-insist/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [A lot of politics in art is just institutional critique, which, in my opinion, is not all that political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/a-lot-of-politics-in-art-is-just-institutional-critique-which-in-my/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) [Explore all 124 Rachel Kushner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To be alive is to listen quietly while other people talk. 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