|
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace. For all these reasons, while one recognizes a certain moral function in scandal, a good conversationalist will analyze it carefully before joining with it, and in any case will not dwell upon it. He will express his rebuke and condemnation, shortly and definitely, and then pass on to something else. But we are not yet done with gossip. We quoted an aesthetician above as saying that much of it is the "real prose literature of daily life." When is gossip harmless? It seems to me the standard should be: "Would I seriously object to being talked about the way I am talking to someone about our absent neighbors?" Dean Swift, in a sentence that bears repeating, admirably said, "Surely one of the best rules of conversation is, never to say a thing which any of the com- |
|||
|
