The Do's and Don't's of Agreeable Conversation

AFTER a person has fixed for himself the two principles of talking to please others more than himself and of being forethinkingly tactful, a series of important conversational policies follow naturally.

The paradoxical one is that to be an agreeable talker one must be a good listener. Good listening is as important to good conversation as the canvas is to the painting. Conversation being the most human of arts, a good talker should be about as much canvas as paint. It is not true, however, as many say, that silence of itself is better than talking. Active, sympathetic listening is a fine thing, but even then only as a complement to speech. If the Apostles had forever listened and never talked, there would be no Christianity.