Give every man thy ear

It always fascinates me when the characters we are supposed to think of as the villains says something that is relatable or thought-provoking. Such an instance comes when Polonius is talking to Laertes, and he instructs him, "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice/Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement." First of all, a disclaimer: I am a firm believer in standing up for what you believe in. Sitting quietly and allowing others to get away with promoting lies or false ideas is not a life motto I would ever want to live by. However, the reason this quote stuck out to me is because I found it to be a good explanation for why introverts are so quiet. Introverts are not quiet because they have nothing to say. Rather, I think that introverts are often quiet because they prefer to listen, see, and analyze, and talking or making too big a deal out of oneself gets in the way of doing so. I think that when we choose to give people our full attention and really listen to what they have to say, we discover that every human being on this planet is absolutely fascinating. The more I get to know the people in my life, the more I realize how very complicated people are, and how beautiful that makes them.

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