Listening

When I'm listening to you, it's infinitely more important for me to listen to me than to listen to you. Of course, it's important for me to listen to you, but it's more important that I listen to me. Otherwise I won't be hearing you. Or I'll be distorting everything you say. I'll be coming at you from my own conditioning. I'll be reacting to you in all kinds of ways from my insecurities, from my need to manipulate you, from my desire to succeed, from irritations and feelings that I might not be aware of. So it's frightfully important that I listen to me when I'm listening to you.

Anthony de Mello in "Awareness" page 71