Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood

Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood

Discourse, the sweeter banquet of the mind.

Discourse, the sweeter banquet of the mind.

It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.

It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.

Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

In conversation avoid the extremes of forwardness and reserve.

In conversation avoid the extremes of forwardness and reserve.

I attribute the little I know to my not having been ashamed to ask for information, and to my rule read more

I attribute the little I know to my not having been ashamed to ask for information, and to my rule of conversing with all descriptions of men on those topics that form their own peculiar professions and pursuits.

The difficulty with this conversation is that it's very different from most of the ones I've had of late. Which, read more

The difficulty with this conversation is that it's very different from most of the ones I've had of late. Which, as I explained, have mostly been with trees.

There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the read more

There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation.

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better
than ten years' study of books.

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better
than ten years' study of books.