The Enjoyment of Living - On Conversation

“Talking with you for one night is better than studying books for ten years.”

Those who are wise seldom know how to talk, and those who talk are seldom wise.

We can speak or discuss business with almost any person, but there are very few people with whom we can truly hold a night’s conversation.  Night is the best time for conversation because there is a certain lack of glamour in conversation during the daytime.

The charm of conversation lies in the fact that the circumstances in which it takes place, the place, the time and the persons engaged in it, vary from occasion to occasion.  The moon cannot always be round, the flowers cannot always look so fine and good friends cannot always meet together.  I do not think the Gods will be jealous of us when we engage in simple pastimes.   A good conversation is always like a good familiar essay.

The proper style of conversation is, therefore, a style of intimacy and nonchalance, in which the parties engaged have not lost their self-consciousness and are entirely oblivious of how they dress, how they speak, how they sneeze and where they put their hands, and are equally indifferent as to which way the conversation is drifting.  We can engage in a true conversation only when we meet our intimate friends and are prepared to unburden our hearts to each other.

It is only when your hands and feet are relaxed and the position of your body is at ease that your heart can be at ease also.

Professional sophists are always distinguished by their wit, clever parables and persuasive power.

Presence of women in a cultured conversation is essential to give it the necessary frivolity which is the soul of conversation.  Without frivolity and gaiety, conversation soon becomes heavy and philosophy itself becomes foolish and a stranger to life.  It has been in all ages, in all cultures interested in the understanding the art of living, there always developed a fashion of welcoming women in society.  The demand for a touch of feminine charm in a company during conversation is a universal demand.  Conversation is always pleasantly stimulated when there are a few ladies who know how to listen and look sweetly pensive. I find it always more delightful than talking to stupid looking man.