conversation

It's far more important why is being said, than what.

Throw an idea into the world and its impact will ripple and reverberate beyond your side of the shore.

Communication is now often experienced as a superhuman phenomenon that towers above individuals. A new generation has come of age with a reduced expectation of what a person can be, and of who each person might become.

Want to play hangman? asks Theophile, and I ache to tell him that I have enough on my plate playing quadriplegic. But my communication system disqualifies repartee: the keenest rapier grows dull and falls flat when it takes several minutes to thrust it home. By the time you strike, even you no longer understand what had seemed so witty before you started to dictate it, letter by letter. So the rule is to avoid impulsive sallies. It deprives conversation of its sparkle, all those gems you bat back and forth like a ball-and I count this forced lack of humor one of the great drawbacks of my condition.

Conversation, like certain portions of the anatomy, always runs more smoothly when lubricated.

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.

Conversation often becomes mere verbal performance and oral horseplay rather than fair-minded communication. (__uicy rumours _)

The notion that the only way you can critically engage with a person__ ideas is to take a shot at them, is to be openly critical _ this is actually nonsense. Some of the most effective ways in which you deal with someone__ idea are to treat them completely at face value, and with an enormous amount of respect. That__ actually a faster way to engage with what they__e getting at than to lob grenades in their direction_If you__e going to hold someone to what they believe, make sure you accurately represent what they believe.

Speaking up is important. Yet to speak up without listening is like banging pots and pans together: Even if it gets you attention, it__ not going to get you respect.

The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard.

Life seemed even more of a guessing game than usual.

Heaven, envious of our joys, is waxen pale; And when we whisper, then the stars fall down To be partakers of our honey talk.(Dido, Queen of Carthage 4.4.52-54)

Madam: Are you lucky, Debora?Debora: What do you mean?Madam: Well, you don't look that happy today...Debora: Is it that clear?

Awareness is about improving social intelligence. If you can__ see, hear, or feel the dynamics of a conversation, you can__ manage them.

I mean__ Dennis was saying, looking pointedly at Mave, but Mave was watching the waitress approach. Oh, life, oh, sweet, forgiven for the ice___e grabbed Mave__ wrist. There was always an emergency. And then there was love. And then there was another emergency. That was the sandwiching of it. Emergency. Love. Emergency. __ mean, it__ not as if you__e been dozing off,_ Dennis was saying, his voice reaching her now, high and watery. __ mean, correct me if I__ wrong,_ he said, __ut I don__ think I__e been having this conversation alone._ He tightened his grip. __ mean, have I?

In fact, the more each person can remove his or her ego from the discussion and focus on the subject matter, the more fruitful the conversation will be for all involved.

She__ into authentic hearts and mind shattering conversations. Good music and quirky art. Weirdness and eccentric people. Love, kindness and genuine souls. She__ into all this and so much more.

I had a dream about you last night... it was about a dreamer and a drifter walking into a bar. They start talking and swapping stories. No matter what the drifter says the dreamer always one-upped him. The drifter then woke up and realized he was the dreamer.