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One cannot stress too much that monopolizing the conversation is a fearful delinquency. It violates the precepts of charity and sociability. It is particularly intolerable in the featherhead, the chatterbox, the person who, though talking much, has really no special or valuable information. A person who with a little common sense can know that he is not especially qualified with information on any topic must resolutely hold his comments to a minimum. If he knows nothing of the topic, he ought to confine himself to questions, and to requests for better data or proofs. On the other hand, if a person has special information on the topic, if it is his specialty, or if he has just read a book about it, or if he has just been there, then he may properly take more than his fractional share in the conversation. However, if it is his specialty then he must be cautious about two things: not to show impatience or register surprise at |
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