I’m going to tell you something: thoughts are never honest. Emotions are. Do not go around asking for honesty in what people think; much of what they perceive as thinking is empty anyway because it’s thought out again and again and comes out refined and muddy. The ones who know how to feel might have to say to you a couple of interesting things or not and when they do that, you ought to know how to listen. So learn how to listen. You can’t make someone open up about their feelings in case they don’t want to. But you can remain open yourself through listening deeply and completely; they might want to talk about the weather and keep it simple — allow them to feel the simplicity. They might wish to throw a tragic metaphor to you and whisper "fucking hell", then shut off again. Still, the feeling is there because the moment is. Emotion pours out directly or indirectly each time people engage themselves in the process of genuine interaction. Keep it genuine. Keep it simple.
Albert Camus, from Notebooks 1951-1959 (via goghst)
