Quotes About Conversation

literature is but the shadow of good talk

but all day long I would be training myself to think, to understand, to criticize, to know myself; I was seeking for the absolute truth: this preoccupation did not exactly encourage polite conversation.

I realized that even if we went on talking till Judgment Day, I would still find the time all too short.

Today it strikes me that the most important aspect of these conversations was not so much what we said as what we took for granted, and what in fact was not so at all. We were wrong about almost everything. An accurate character sketch must take these errors into account, since they expressed one kind of reality - our actual situation.

He would talk and talk and talk; the twilight would fill with cigarette smoke and shimmering words would tremble in the blue coils of air...

As we talked in the half-darkness I assuaged an old unhappiness.

Scriassine studied me in turn. You're not so dumb, you know. Generally I dislike intelligent women, maybe because they're not intelligent enough. They always want to prove to themselves, and to everyone else, how terribly smart they are. So all they do is talk and never understand anything. What struck me the first time I saw you was that way you have of keeping quiet.

Poder conversar é uma grande sorte, disse ela. É compreensível que, nos casais que não sabem se aproveitar das palavras, os mal-entendidos formem bolas de neve e acabem por estragar tudo entre eles.

Non avevo idee sovversive, anzi, non avevo affatto idee, su nulla; ma per tutto il giorno mi allenavo a riflettere, a comprendere, a criticare, e mi ponevo domande; cercavo con precisione la verità: questo scrupolo mi rendeva inadatta alle conversazioni mondane.

The telephone- it is not a thing that brings people nearer: it underlines remoteness. You are not together as you are in a conversation, for you do not see one another. You are not alone as you are in front of a piece of paper that allows you to talk inwardly while you are addressing the other- to seek out and find the truth.

Do you suppose it's dangerous? she asked her father, who said a lot of comforting things that didn't mean anything.

A fool's wild speech confounds the wise.

Café Philosophe on rue de Temple in the Marais

Except...I do. Of course I do. Because as his hands gently cup my waist, I don't make a sound. As he swivels me around to face him, I don't make a sound. I don't need to. We're still talking. Every touch he makes, every imprint of his skin is like another word, another thought, a continuation of our conversation. And we're not done yet. Not yet.

Except that stopping midsentence is the worst thing people can do. It's like, totally passive-aggressive, because you can't take issue with anything they've said. You have to take issue with what you think they were going to say. Which then they deny.

Life would be a lot easier if conversations were rewindable and erasable, like videos.

And, no, they haven't done it. I put him out of his misery. Done what? asks Noah. Put the sausage in the cupcake, says Lorcan, draining his coffee. Lorcan! I snap. Don't say things like that! Noah explodes with laughter. Put the sausage in the cupcake! he crows. The sausage in the cupcake! Great. I glare at Lorcan, who stares back, unmoved. And, anyway, cupcake? I've never heard it called that.

Except that stopping mid-sentence is the worst thing people can do. It's, like, totally passive aggressive, because you can't take issue with anything they've said. You have to take issue with what you think they were going to say.

La vita sarebbe molto più facile se le conversazioni si potessero riavvolgere e cancellare come le registrazioni video.

Mrs Brandon.' The sonographer cuts me off. 'You're talking to your bladder.

I'm sorry, says Linus. Don't be sorry, I say, almost aggressively. You didn't say anything. Which is true. He didn't say anything. He stopped mid-sentence. Except that stopping mid-sentence is the worst thing people can do. It's, like, partially aggressive, because you can't take issue with anything they've said. You have to take issue with what you think they were going to say. Which they then deny.

Small talk depletes creativity. Social media stifles thought. Even choosing an outfit every morning is needless effort. So, for one week, we will let all that nonsense go. We will engage instead with big talk. Character. Plot.

The idea of Kai and Luke sitting at a table discussing his pecs nearly made me snort out my coconut water.

There's silence, then the phone bleeps again with his reply: