Semiotics

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations."

"A shame; the ones who died without a name."

"Let us not get into the habit of names. Names are dangerous."

"Names are the way we humans build relationship, not only with each other but with the living world."

"What is this that is nameless and cannot be identified with either body or mind? If you try to conceive of it, it is beyond thought; if you try to express it, words are exhausted. It appears both foolish and saintly. It is as high as the mountain and as deep as the ocean, yet discloses neither its full height nor depth. It is illuminatively unbound by conditions, displaying a radiance that cannot be discerned by the naked eye. It penetrates beyond thought and has a clarity above the entanglements of speech. It transcends both heaven and earth and is realized only by the entire person."

"There was a time when that there was no name for God, and there is going to be when he will not have one."

"I have as many names as there are winds, as many titles as there are ways to die."

"The one who recites the Qur’an and the one who listens to it have an equal share in the reward."

"And this cuff was but to knock at your ear, and beseech listening."

"In listening mood she seemed to stand, The guardian Naiad of the strand."

"Listen, every one That listen may, unto a tale That's merrier than the nightingale."

"He holds him with his glittering eye— * * * * * * And listens like a three years' child."

"Most people don't know how to listen because the major part of their attention is taken up by thinking. They pay more attention to that than to what the other person is saying, and none at all to what really matters: the Being of the other person underneath the words and the mind. Of course, you cannot feel someone else's Being except through your own. This is the beginning of the realization of oneness, which is love. At the deepest level of Being, you are one with all that is. Most human relationships consist mainly of minds interacting with each other, not of human beings communicating, being in communion. No relationship can thrive in that way, and that is why there is so much conflict in relationships."

"what lovely, larger life becomes ours when we listen to one another"

"Considering how much the ears are cultivated with all the useless varieties of "lute, sackbut, and psaltery," it is wonderful their first great quality should be so neglected ; it shows how much common sense is overlooked in our present style of education. Now, considering that it is the first step to general popularity — (that general popularity, to be turned, like a patriot’s, to particular account) — considering that it is the great general principle of conciliation towards East Indian uncles and independent aunts, it shows how much real utility is forgotten, when the science of listening is not made a prominent branch of instruction. So many act on the mistaken principle, that mere hearing is listening — the eyes, believe me, listen even better than the ears — there ought to be a professor of listening. We recommend this to the attention of the London University, or the new King's College ; both professing to improve the system of education. Under the head of listening, is to be included the arts of opportune questionings and judicious negatives — those negatives which, like certain votes, become, after a time, affirmatives."

"in a community, we learn to listen"

"Blessed are they who listen when no one is left to speak."

"The sounds we create tomorrow depend on the care we give our ears today."

"Perhaps it is possible to discover more in silence than in speech. Or perhaps it is only that those who are silent among us learn to listen."

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen."

"Understanding does not occur when we try to intercept what someone wants to say to us by claiming we already know it."

"The young watch television twenty-four hours a day, they don't read and they rarely listen. This incessant bombardment of images has developed a hypertrophied eye condition that's turning them into a race of mutants."

"听取所有人的意见，从每一只鹅身上摘下一根羽毛，但绝对不要跟随任何人。"

"But yet she listen'd—'tis enough— Who listens once will listen twice; Her heart, be sure, is not of ice, And one refusal no rebuff."

"Listen carefully, my child, to your master's precepts, and incline the ear of your heart. Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father's advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience."

"Listen with your ears, not your mouth."

"It is one of the great evils of servitude, that let the tyranny be ever so severe, 'tis always flattered; and the more severe 'tis, the more 'tis flattered. The oppressors of mankind are flattered beyond all others; because fear and servitude naturally produce, as well as have recourse to, flattery, as the best means of self-preservation; whereas liberty, having no occasion for it, scorns it."

"Pessimum genus inimicorum laudantes."

"Vitium fuit, nunc mos est, adsentatio."

"Where Young must torture his invention To flatter knaves, or lose his pension."

"'Tis an old maxim in the schools, That flattery's the food of fools; Yet now and then your men of wit Will condescend to take a bit."

"Es ist dem Menschen leichter und geläufiger, zu schmeicheln als zu loben."

"Their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue."

"By flatterers besieged And so obliging that he ne'er obliged."

"Qu se laudari gaudent verbis subdolis, Sera dant pœnas turpes pœnitentia."

"No adulation; 'tis the death of virtue; Who flatters, is of all mankind the lowest Save he who courts the flattery."

"On croit quelquefois haïr la flatterie; mais on ne hait que la manière de flatter."

"Gallantry of mind consists in saying flattering things in an agreeable manner."

"Adulandi gens prudentissima laudat Sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici."

"Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came, And the puff of a dunce, he mistook it for fame; Till his relish grown callous, almost to displease, Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please."

"Assentatio, vitiorum adjutrix, procul amoveatur."

"It has been well said that "the arch-flatterer with whom all the petty flatterers have intelligence is a man's self.""

"In summary, our results showed no sex differences in the rapid detection of emotional compared with emotionally neutral expressions. However, we did observe sex differences in the subjective ratings of facial stimuli and the relationship between ratings and RTs. Females reported a stronger qualitative response to the emotional facial expressions of others than did males. Furthermore, emotional arousal enhanced the detection of facial expressions more strongly in females than in males, whereas negative feelings facilitated the detection of facial expressions more clearly in males than in females. These findings suggest females and males differ in their subjective emotional reactions to facial expressions and that this difference leads to subsequent differences in the ways in which emotion modulates the detection of emotional facial expressions."

"As texting has become the default discourse for an entire generation, the ability to read real-life facial expressions and body language is alarmingly atrophying."

"A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: FACECRIME, it was called."

"There yet appeared some touch of their delicate lineaments, preserving the sweetness of proportion, and expressing itself beyond expression."

"That is the great thing about our movement--that these members are uniform not only in ideas, but even, the facial expression is almost the same!"

"Adrian Veidt: I've known John long enough to see he isn't devoid of emotion. His subtle facial twitches wouldn't have been noticed by the layman but to me, he might as well have been sobbing."

"At best, it is not easy to describe facial expression. Pictures are needed, because it is a visual phenomenon."

"Sometimes you are puzzled by someone’s facial expression; you can’t figure out what he meant. Or you can figure out what he meant by the look on his face, but you can’t decide whether or not to trust it. It is hard to check impressions with others, because there just isn’t much of a vocabulary for describing the face itself. There are a lot of words for the messages you get from the face (afraid, terrified, horrified, apprehensive, worried, to mention a few of those related to fear), but few to describe the source of those messages. We do have the terms smile, grin, frown, squint, but there are relatively few that identify particular facial configurations, distinctive wrinkle patterns, or temporary shapes of the facial features. Without terms to refer to the face, we are handicapped in comparing or correcting our interpretations of facial expression."