“I kept my poker face on and listened to him with an air of interest and respect (I thought of what it says in one of Rand's novels, how the winner can afford to be generous).”
“Leverage can come in many forms. Leverage can be your thoughts.people who win are careful with their thoughts, not saying "I can't do that." Or "it's too rosky." Or "I can't afford it." Instead they say "How can i do that?" Or how can I reduce my risk?" Or "How can I afford it?”
“Listen, my friend, all forms that exist in God's universe can be found in the human figure. A man's body and face can tell everything he represents. So how could I ever exhaust my interest in it?”
“I'm her boyfriend. She really only have to listen to what I say."She moved closer to him. "I am gonna kill you today, Tom. I can smell it on the air.""Really?" he asked. "I would've thought the cigs'd taken care of your sense of smell by now.”
“How often have I noticed or, indeed, listened to him? We talk, but do I actually listen, or is our conversation mainly a question of my waiting for him to stop and for it to be my turn to say something? For how many of us is that what conversation means - the setting up of our lines?”
“In my return to church, I had learned the hard way to avoid assumptions about other people's faith. For one thing, people kept surprising me. If I listened carefully to them, my conjectures about what they thought usually turned out to be wrong. For another thing, I was insecure enough about my own faith, such as it was, to resent other people telling me what they thought I believed and why they thought I believed it. So I tried to hear what my friends say about joining their loved ones after death without assuming I knew exactly what they meant.”