Reticence is one of the most essential conditions of long
friendship.
Judgment and tact are necessary to good conversation. It is not well to
ask many questions, and then only those of a general character.
Curiosity should be curbed. Quite properly people resent
inquisitiveness. The best way to cultivate the rare grace of judgment is
to be mindful of your own faults and to correct them with all speed and
thoroughness.
The word "talk" is often used in a derogatory sense, and we hear such
expressions as "all talk," "empty talk," and "idle talk." But as
everyone talks, we should all do our utmost to set a high example to
others of the correct use of speech.
It is always better to talk too little than too much. Never talk for
mere talking's sake. Avoid being artificial or pedantic. Don't
antagonize, dogmatize, moralize, attitudinize, nor criticise. Talk in
poise,--quietly, deliberately, sincerely, and you will never lack an
attentive audience.
PHRASES FOR TALKERS
It is said of Macaulay that he never allowed a sentence to pass muster
until it was as good as he could make it. He would write and rewrite,
and even construct a paragraph or a whole chapter, in order to secure a
more lucid and satisfactory arrangement. He wrote just so much each day,
usually an average of six pages, and this manuscript was so erased and
corrected that it was finally compressed into two pages of print.
The masters of English prose have been great workers. Stevenson and
others like him gave hours and days to the study of words, phrases, and
sentences.
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