Quotations about:
conversation
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A gossip is one who talks to you about others; a bore is one who talks to you about himself; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.
Lisa Kirk (1925-1990) American actress and singer
Quoted in the Cholly Knickerbocker society column, New York Journal American (9 Mar 1954)
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In that Heart paper at that time, Cholly Knickerbocker was the pen name for Igor Cassini.
All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called “facts.” They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain.
The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself.
[L’esprit de la conversation consiste bien moins à en montrer beaucoup qu’à en faire trouver aux autres.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 5 “Of Society and Conversation [De la Société et de la Conversation],” § 16 (5.16) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
The Wit of conversation consists more in finding it in others than shewing a great deal your self.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]
The Wit of Conversation consists more in finding it in others, than in shewing a great deal your self.
[Curll ed. (1713)]
Conversation-Wit consists more in pointing out that of others, than in shewing a great deal yourself.
[Browne ed. (1752)]
The art of conversation consists far less in displaying much wit oneself than in helping others to be witty.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]
I have seen a man of genius who made one think if other men were like him, cooperation were impossible. Must we always talk for victory, and never once for truth, for comfort, and joy?
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Table Talk,” American Life, lecture, Boston (1864-12-18)
(Source)
Speaking of Thoreau's style of conversation. Originally a Journal entry of 29 Feb 1856. Also part of the lecture "Social Aims".
Good-nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty. It shows virtue in the fairest light, takes off in some measure from the deformity of vice, and makes even folly and impertinence supportable.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
The Spectator, No. 169 (1711-09-13)
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Talking is like playing on the harp; there is as much in laying the hand on the strings to stop their vibrations as in twanging them to bring out their music.
Let us make a special effort to learn to stop communicating with each other, so that we can have some conversation.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1979-09-01)
Reprinted in Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 "Basic Civilization," "Social Intercourse" (1983).
Sometimes misattributed to Mark Twain. Often paraphrased (e.g., "Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation").
More discussion of this quotation: Let Us Make a Special Effort to Stop Communicating with Each Other, So We Can Have Some Conversation – Quote Investigator®
“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.”
Sig Lines
~
Attributed to many people, most prominently Eleanor Roosevelt and Hyman Rickover, but the origin appears to be a recollection of a statement by Henry Thomas Buckle: "Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." -- Charles Stewart, Haud Immemor: Reminiscences of Legal and Social Life in Edinburgh and London 1850-1900 (1901). More information here.
As a matter of fact, have you never noticed that most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of a witness?
Margaret Millar (1915-1994) American-Canadian mystery and suspense writer
The Weak-Eyed Bat (1942)
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Often misattributed to Mark Twain, usually as "Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses."
More information on this quote's origins: Most Conversations Are Simply Monologues Delivered in the Presence of a Witness – Quote Investigator®
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but, far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
Dorothy Nevill (1826-1913) British society hostess, wit, horticulturalist
Under Five Reigns, ch. 5 (1910)
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Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, ch. 50 (1788)
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Good communication is stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001) American writer, pilot
Gift From the Sea, ch. 6 “Argonauta” (1955)
(Source)
Often misquoted as "is as stimulating" or "is just as stimulating as."
DISCUSSION, n. A method of confirming others in their errors.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Discussion,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
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Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1882-04-02).