The Art and Joy of Conversation (Erich Fromm)

...these things [the art and joy of conversation] will become possible again only if we can rid ourselves of our monomaniacal, goal-oriented way of life. We need to cultivate attitudes that recognise the expression and full realisation of human potential [his emphasis] as the only worthwhile goals in life. To put it in the simplest possible terms: What matters is being as opposed to having; to just using and consuming and getting ahead.

Erich Fromm