Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, p. 81 (2005)

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.

— Eckhart Tolle on Communication

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "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." in the context of "Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, p. 81 (2005)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Communication" (T) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Eckhart Tolle

About Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle (born Ulrich Leonard Tölle on 16 February 1948) is a German / Canadian spiritual teacher, motivational speaker, and writer.