Back And Forth Quotes

“Hey. What's your ship's name, anyway?'

'Blip-A.'

'No, I mean. What do you call it?'

'Ship.'

'Your ship has no name?'

'Why would ship have name, question?'

'I shrugged. 'Ships have names.'

He points to my pilot's seat. 'What is name of you chair, question?'

'It doesn't have a name.'

'Why does ship have name but chair no have name, question?'

'Never mind. Your ship is the Blip-A.'

'That is what I said. Flash in ten seconds.'

'Copy.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“I will go back and forth and never be”
― Dorothea Lasky, Rome: Poems

“He wasn't good with this sort of thing - with the back-and-forth dance between man and woman. He wasn't even sure if they were dancing, or if she was merely being polite.”
― Courtney Milan, Unraveled

“Once you’re on equal footing, it’s important to listen to and consider the other person’s point of view. Research shows that we often exaggerate how extreme our opponents are.

“Somebody says something and we all of a sudden create this whole construct about who they are as a person and what type of intention they have, and then we proceed as if that’s true,” said Julia Minson, an associate professor at Harvard Kennedy School. “That automatically sets up the adversarial environment in which someone has to lose.” She explains that it’s important to learn more about the other person’s actual intent, rather than filing it in with your own assumptions.”
― Evelyn Nam

“Being a mediocre conversationalist is easy. Being a good conversationalist is hard. As I’ve tried to understand how to become a better conversationalist, I’ve found that I’ve had to overcome weird ideas about what a good conversationalist is like. A lot of people think a good conversationalist is someone who can tell funny stories. That’s a raconteur, but it’s not a conversationalist. A lot of people think a good conversationalist is someone who can offer piercing insights on a range of topics. That’s a lecturer, but not a conversationalist. A good conversationalist is a master of fostering a two-way exchange. A good conversationalist is capable of leading people on a mutual expedition toward understanding.”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen