191 Quotes by Deborah Tannen

The political Right is particularly vehement when it comes to compromise. Conservatives are now strongly swayed by the Tea Party movement, whose clarion call is a refusal to compromise regardless of the practical consequences.

People vary. You change your style, your hair, and the way you dress. Talking differently will be a part of that.

The death of compromise has become a threat to our nation as we confront crucial issues such as the debt ceiling and that most basic of legislative responsibilities: a federal budget. At stake is the very meaning of what had once seemed unshakable: 'the full faith and credit' of the U.S. government.

The effect of dominance is not always the result of an intention to dominate.

If you talk to your friends the way your parents talk, they will think you are stiff and odd.

There are those who believe that the existence of gender differences at very early ages is evidence that these differences are biological or generic in origin.

Many mothers and daughters are as close as any two people can be, but closeness always carries with it the need - indeed, the desire - to consider how your actions will affect the other person, and this can make you feel that you are no longer in control of your own life.

For women, detailed conversation is our lifeblood, while for men it's just not as critical.

The trickiest thing about the double bind is that it operates imperceptibly, like shots from a gun with a silencer.