Quotes about conversation

"Debate is masculine, conversation is feminine."

Alcott, Amos Bronson on conversation   

"It is all right to hold a conversation but you should let go of it now and then."

Armour, Richard on conversation   

"A good conversationalist is not one who remembers what was said, but says what someone wants to remember."

Brown, John Mason on conversation   

"The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you."

Bruyere, Jean De La on conversation   

"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it."

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward G. on conversation   

"Never hold anyone by the button or the hand in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you had better hold your tongue than them."

Chesterfield, Lord on conversation
3 fans of this quote   

"There is nothing so dangerous for anyone who has something to hide as conversation! A human being, Hastings, cannot resist the opportunity to reveal himself and express his personality which conversation gives him. Every time he will give himself away."

Christie, Agatha on conversation
3 fans of this quote   

"A sudden silence in the middle of a conversation suddenly brings us back to essentials: it reveals how dearly we must pay for the invention of speech."

Cioran, E. M. on conversation   

"Talk ought always to run obliquely, not nose to nose with no chance of mental escape."

Colby, Frank Moore on conversation   

"Repartee is perfect when it effects its purpose with a double edge. It is the highest order of wit, as it indicates the coolest yet quickest exercise of genius, at a moment when the passions are roused."

Colton, Charles Caleb on conversation   

"Reply to wit with gravity, and to gravity with wit."

Colton, Charles Caleb on conversation   

"I find we are growing serious, and then we are in great danger of being dull."

Congreve, William on conversation   

"I would rather take hellebore than spend a conversation with a good, little man."

Dahlberg, Edward on conversation   

"Mediocre people have an answer for everything and are astonished at nothing. They always want to have the air of knowing better than you what you are going to tell them; when, in their turn, they begin to speak, they repeat to you with the greatest confidence, as if dealing with their own property, the things that they have heard you say yourself at some other place. A capable and superior look is the natural accompaniment of this type of character."

Delacroix, Eugene on conversation
3 fans of this quote   

"No collection of people who are all waiting for the same thing are capable of holding a natural conversation. Even if the thing they are waiting for is only a taxi."

Elton, Ben on conversation   

"Things said for conversation are chalk eggs. Don't say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on conversation   

"In conversation the game is, to say something new with old words. And you shall observe a man of the people picking his way along, step by step, using every time an old boulder, yet never setting his foot on an old place."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on conversation   

"Conversation is an art in which a man has all mankind for competitors."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on conversation   

"The great secret of succeeding in conversation is to admire little, to hear much; always to distrust our own reason, and sometimes that of our friends; never to pretend to wit, but to make that of others appear as much as possibly we can; to hearken to what is said and to answer to the purpose."

Franklin, Benjamin on conversation
5 fans of this quote   

"You guys are both saying the same thing. The only reason you're arguing is because you're using different words. Conversation in a dorm room quoted in Language in Thought and Action,"

Hayakawa, S. I. on conversation   

"In conversation, humor is worth more than wit and easiness more than knowledge."

Herbert, George on conversation   

"Saying what we think gives a wider range of conversation than saying what we know."

Hightower, Cullen on conversation
5 fans of this quote   

"And when you stick on conversation's burrs, don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs."

Holmes, Oliver Wendell on conversation   

"Nothing lowers the level on conversation more than raising the voice."

Horowitz, Stanley on conversation
3 fans of this quote   

"If you ever have to support a flagging conversation, introduce the topic of eating."

Hunt, Leigh on conversation   

"There is nothing that exasperates people more than a display of superior ability or brilliance in conversation. They seem pleased at the time, but their envy makes them curse the conversationalist in their heart."

Johnson on conversation   

"The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered but a general effect of pleasing impression."

Johnson, Samuel on conversation   

"I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read."

Johnson, Samuel on conversation   

"No one is qualified to converse in public except those contented to do without such conversation."

Kempis, Thomas on conversation   

"We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on conversation   

"Conceit causes more conversation than wit."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on conversation   

"The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting."

Lebowitz, Fran on conversation   

"No one will ever shine in conversation, who thinks of saying fine things: to please, one must say many things indifferent, and many very bad."

Lockier, Francis on conversation   

"Conversation. What is it? A Mystery! It's the art of never seeming bored, of touching everything with interest, of pleasing with trifles, of being fascinating with nothing at all. How do we define this lively darting about with words, of hitting them back and forth, this sort of brief smile of ideas which should be conversation?"

Maupassant, Guy de on conversation
4 fans of this quote   

"Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know."

Maurois, Andre on conversation
3 fans of this quote   

"We do not talk -- we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests."

Miller, Henry on conversation
4 fans of this quote   

"With thee conversing I forget all time."

Milton, John on conversation   

"In my opinion, the most fruitful and natural play of the mind is in conversation. I find it sweeter than any other action in life; and if I were forced to choose, I think I would rather lose my sight than my hearing and voice. The study of books is a drowsy and feeble exercise which does not warm you up."

Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De on conversation   

"There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees."

Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De on conversation
4 fans of this quote   

"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."

Nevill, Dorothy on conversation
7 fans of this quote