„He was surprised when I ignored him. He is wealthy and arrogant and used to being listened to even when what he says is nonsense—as it often is.“

— Octavia E. Butler
„In Asia or the Arab world or in Africa, where the Muslims are, if you find one who says he's white, all he's doing is using an adjective to describe something that is incidental about him…. There is nothing else to it. He's just white. But when you get the white man over here in America and he says he's white, he means something else. You can listen to the sound of his voice when he says he's white. He means he's boss.“
— Malcolm X
„Theobald ignored him. He could be deaf when he chose; he seemed to find it particularly difficult to hear the word “No.”“
— Robert A. Heinlein
„It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair.“
— Chinua Achebe
„None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.“
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
„What does a bigot do when he meets someone who challenges his opinions? He doesn’t give. He stays rigid. Doesn’t even try to listen, just lashes out.“
— Harper Lee
„But if you say: "How am I to know what he means, when I see nothing but the signs he gives?" then I say: "How is he to know what he means, when he has nothing but the signs either?"“
— Ludwig Wittgenstein