Enjoy these potent quotes about conflict resolution, authentic listening, and bringing people together.

“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict”. ~ William Ellery Channing

“We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed with us to those who have differed.” ~ Charles Caleb Colton

“Win/win is an attitude, not an outcome.” ~ Don Boyd

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” ~ John Lubbock

“It is not the strongest of species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” ~ Charles Darwin

“The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” ~ Niels Bohr

“Resolving conflict is rarely about who is right. It is about acknowledgment and appreciation of difference.” ~ Thomas Crum

“The greatest compliment that was ever paid to me was when someone asked me what I thought and attended to my answer.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“When the right question is asked it has more power than the answer.” ~ Steve Levitt

“Conflict can be seen as a gift of energy in which neither side loses and a new dance is created.” ~ Thomas Crum

“Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.” ~ John M. Barrie

“I don’t like that man. I’m going to have to get to know him better.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“If I give you an idea, and you give me an idea, we will each have two ideas.” ~ West African Proverb

“Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional”. ~ Max Lucado

“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” ~ William Ellery Channing

“We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” ~ John W. Gardner

“If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless.” ~ Darryl F. Zanuck

“Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.” ~ Richard Bach

“An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions.” ~ Robert A. Humphrey

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” ~ Bertrand Russell

“Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.” ~ Saul Alinsky

“The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

“You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.” ~ M. Scott Peck

“If you speak when angry, you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” ~ Ambrose Bierce

“Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble.” ~ Frank Tyger

“Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.” ~ James Harvey Robinson

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” ~ Franklin Covey

“The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man’s observation, not overturning it.” ~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton

“Don’t be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with, the wind.” ~ Hamilton Mabie

“If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” ~ Moshe Dayan

“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance.” ~ Robert Quillen

“One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears by listening to them.” ~ Dean Rusk

“The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.” ~ Joseph Joubert

In-Accord fixes workplace conflict, provides professional coaching, and conducts training. Contact us if you need help.