The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1872-01-11
TIE ART OF LISTENING.
From the Hearth and Home.


To listen well is certainly an art, and tor
pertec 10. m it, more han ears Is required
And vet the students Of this art are very few
Asn branch OF education II is not appreciated
and ey,.n t.34 tatkcrs do not pay that atten.
ton 10 il thai thelr owu Interests demand
Erbev ,,j...ir,4 voVG listeners, but hey f,ii 10
enc0ura re rbe art which would produce them
resting satisfied with people hat hear well
and saw titlle, lust as our torriathtrS ate and
eniored he bIackherrlea Of The roadside, be
FORE tbe Law on show d hem what cultiva |
zion wuu,d do, even Tor q hramhe bush So |
cietv does nof place an ad .quate value
upon good listeners, and YET how greatly is it.
indcb I'd to them How much 81 wisdom, I
truth aud wit Woud have gone unSpOken, |
had there not been the proper ears to hear H.
as well u, he proper tongues To speak it i!
Good talking is i'm pSeIb!G without good list |
ening HE one is The complimentary color
of he her, and speech depends Tor much OF
briIluncy and effect upon proper hearing and
appreciation. But none oil Us who have ever
talked need he told the value OF good
Iistener-how he encourages the diffident,
assists nc feeble, restraints The impriuous,
runs with the rapid, l0iters with W. slow,
laughs WI Ii the gay, follows up the vagares
of tie saint, deScrnds with the humble, and
goars with him 81 loly mind
In MS art wise discrimination Is neceSSa
nv Tor that manner of iisft Mig which would
bring out the best points OF one taiker wou
not serve at all in The case of another The
deep attention which would So crafty he
learned pro HssOr who is eudeavOring 10
max. us understand the difference between
Ihc djp OF lie n0rzOu across vast fields of ice
and the same DIP across an open sta, would
onjy rmharrase he talr young girl who Is
making netorr company first attempt at q
couu cled narrative. she would be but too
thankful for an oppOrtune remark which
would gave her something to take hold OF.
ami SO enable her to pre- erve her balance to
the end OF the pegiIous Journey she has un
H., = HA nf flrp1 ~ m
would greatly annoy he good professor.
TIE trrui "draw OUT" used ill connection
wi h The ART of list, mug, is most admirable
one No better wO"ds cOud be found to
describe lhc operatl0n rs the fisherman,
on tile baukS of he stream, uses all his arts
to induce the specklt3 trout to exhibit on
TIL g,aes its bright cuUrs aud Iair proper
tons now mildly dangling his fly above the
rippcs. and then whSklng IL 'apidly back
wards and forwards over the stream, SO the
skiliui listener. with here an air or rapt at
tent, II and there fl remark OF bright ap
probation draws from he udent or the
man O thought his sparkling ideas or his well
pOnderrd arguments There are, it is proha
Bile, no front who yearn Tor the grassy bank
bu' there are ideas which would gladly be
fshed iOr. Many of us carry about un
told amount OF thought which we have kept
hidden IN orr mnGS because have never
met any one TO whom we could ga isfdc Ori !
dspluy IL. 1t may all die with uS. or VIZ
may meet the person no will draw II out o
us, or To whom we will nStinctively untold
IL it may he better that his meeting should
never take place, or it may not-but st
stands the case Even Old Miss Abby. III
the lane, has, we d ubt not, drop OF thu
"cuTScd lebanon" tor winch she has not We
found tue proper ear (and may she never fine
III But, on the other hand there is whole
some hluOd, even in Miss Abby il SEINE gooC
listener would but warm it up.
Listeners have their preferences. of course
1t Is obviously more pleasant 10 hear mar
Whose speech springs and sparkics like
fountain, than o listen 10 one whose ia /
rushes out like water from hydrant AS ;
Tu'e, the better the taker, the easier anC
more satisfactory is he task of he listener
, But lhls is not always the case. Given i
man who hos made speech proof safe OF his
mind, and who We know keeps locked III
therein much OF interest and value, il is q
rare pleasure to make hm turn his key, oper
his door, bring out his treasures, ana show
them I o us in the brightest lights and mos
favorable aspects, and then to see him PROUD
land delighted, but never &uspecting that i
was his listeners art, and not his own dispo
siion, which brought about the unusual eX
hibitiOn.
1t is, however, a safer and mere quiet 10Y
to listen WHEN theSabo is all on the oiht
side. For example, We would rat her heark
en- day 10y day To the President of the Nation
al Association tor the Advancement OF mos
anything whatever, than to listen TO our I'm
Gle TOnans Tor an hour listener can MOI
draw anything out of Uncle T0nans. biz
would not if he could. He must receive eve
rylhng just rs it is given him. and he mus
take II by the right end and hold 1t properly
too. II one is not able to do this, Uncle
TOnans will show him how, before he pro
duces another sentence. well, SIR" he viii
say, what do you think of that 90 And
theE the right thing muSt be said, or he viii
go back and begin all overagain
Such taker is the bane OF a listener. A
m"n may sit supinely under II shower, ht
may braVely draw himself up and bear it, let
ting his thoughts wander, il they will. tc
happier hoars. But where one is envulfcd i,
flood, where he must strike out steadi,,
ana laboriOusly in order to keep hiinaei
atoat. the case is truly hard. Listening un
der such circumstances, is more than an ar
lit is a virtue.