Look at your [English] ladies of quality--are they not forever parting with their husbands--forfeiting their reputations--and is t...heir life aught but dissipation? In common genteel life, indeed, you may now and then meet with very fine girls--who have politeness, sense and conversation--but these are few--and then look at your trademen's daughters--what are they?--poor creatures indeed! all pertness, imitation and folly.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In all conversation between two persons, tacit reference is made, as to a third party, to a common nature. That third party or com...mon nature is not social; it is impersonal; is God.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Whether in conversation we generally agree or disagree with others is largely a matter of habit: the one tendency makes as much se...nse as the other.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It is not what we learn in conversation that enriches us. It is the elation that comes of swift contact with tingling currents of ...thought.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
For most women, the language of conversation is primarily a language of rapport: a way of establishing connections and negotiating... relationships. Emphasis is placed on displaying similarities and matching experiences. From childhood, girls criticize peers who try to stand out or appear better than others. People feel their closest connections at home, or in settings where they feel close to and comfortable with--in other words, during private speaking. But even the most public situations can be approached like private speaking. For most men, talk is primarily a means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order. This is done by exhibiting knowledge and skill, and by holding center stage through verbal performance such as storytelling, joking, or imparting information. From childhood, men learn to use talking as a way to get and keep attention. So they are more comfortable speaking in larger groups made up of people they know less well--in the broadest sense, "public speaking." But even the most private situations can be approached like public speaking, more like giving a report than establishing rapport.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I had been curiously depressed all day. In the night I wakened. First precise thought: I know why I'm depressed--nothing inspired ...is going on. Second: I demand that life be inspired every moment. Third: the only way to guarantee this is to have inspired conversation every moment. Fourth: most people never get so far as conversation; they haven't the stamina, and there is no time. Fifth: if I had a magazine I could spend my time filling it up with the best conversation the world has to offer. Sixth: marvelous idea--salvation. Seventh: decision to do it. Deep sleep.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It has been years since I have seen anyone who could even look as if he were in love. No one's face lights up any more except for ...political conversation.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »