As Durkheim might have put it, there are non-dialogical foundations of dialogue that contain moral directives in themselves.   If the spirit of dialogue gets cultivated, it may serve not only to overcome the epistemological fragmentation of our discipline but its growing division along particularistic lines. Perhaps it is time for sociology to recover the robustly ecumenical outlook it evinced when the discipline was being established a century ago and to model, for the world community, a way of resolving the cultural crisis of our time.

-Donald Levine, Visions of the Sociological Tradition (1995)

If you have a combative heart, it will tend to provoke combative reactions in the others. "By practicing budo [the martial Way] . . . you come to understand that not fighting is the better alternative. This understanding gives birth to the heart of love." Journey to the Heart of Aikido, p. 264. http://journeytoaikido.com/

"He who would like to live in the unclosed and unorganized and unorganizable community of authentic human beings–in what used to be called the invisible Church–does in fact live today as an individual in alliance with individuals scattered over the face of the earth, an alliance that survives every disaster, a dependability that is not fixed by any path or any specific imperative." ––Karl Jaspers, 1947

Commenting on the "malpractice" of Redskin Coach Mike Shanahan in keeping young quarterback Robert Griffin III in play when demonstrably injured, she writes: "At that moment, the Redskins became like the rest of Washington, and the rest of our self-centered, grasshopper attention span culture–going for short-term gain and avoiding long-term pain."  --NYT, 1.9.2013

It is common for humans to bestride the world emitting waves that scan the environment. Many, for example, are ever searching for signs of danger.  The radar of others looks for things to be angry at.   Some others look for things to be amused by. What would it be like to scan the world to sense things to be grateful for? -- DL

Take a brief moment to appreciate something or someone you truly love.
Now breath into your belly and let out a long and gentle  “ahhhh” sound. Notice any shift in your body and mood.   Practicing gratitude along with intentional breath work produces a centered state that immediately shifts our nervous system into a more relaxed state.    
                                                                      --David Weinstock,  Liminal Somatics (see link on Aikido page below)

Perhaps you, like me, dislike the phrase 'social skills', which suggests people good at cocktail party talk or adept at selling you things you don't need. Still, there are social skills of a more serious sort. These run the gamut of listening, behaving tactfully, finding points of agreement and managing disagreement, or avoiding frustration in a difficult discussion. All these activities have a technical name: they are called 'dialogic skills'. . . . Modern society is 'de-skilling' people in practicing cooperation.--Richard Sennett, Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation