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Quotes About Conversation

Since then he has said nothing and although from time to time I have thrown out what I hope were delicate hints and suggestions he has not seemed to notice them; and with a man Lucifer could not hold a book, bell or candle to for pride I cannot raise the subject directly.
~ Patrick O'Brian
Joe. Are youse a-going out?' 'I ain't Joe,' said Jack. 'Who are you, then?' asked the boat, now visible. 'Jack.' 'Where's Joe?' 'Gone to Salem.' 'Are youse a-going out, Jack?' 'Maybe.' 'You got any bait, Jack?' 'No.' 'Well, fuck you, Jack.
~ Patrick O'Brian
It was quite unlike their friendly discourse of some days before, and presently Stephen grew sadly bored: lies or half-lies, he reflected, had a certain value in that they gave a picture of what the man would wish to seem; but a very few were enough for that. And then they had a striving, aggressive quality, as though the listener had to be bludgeoned into admiration; they were the antithesis of conversation.
~ Patrick O'Brian
Any time you want die, ask me, she replied.
~ Unknown
You want us all to be snake-charmers and scorpion-eaters, he raged, at one point in their conversation ... Naturally, Eunice replied in her most provoking manner. It would be far preferable to being a nation of tenth-rate pseudo-civilized rug-sellers.
~ Paul Bowles
At least you can say you were in on the last days of Morocco, he told her. How's your tea? Finished? I think we ought to be going.
~ Paul Bowles
Godinama je njegovo praznovjerje da se stvarnost i istinske predodžbe mogu na?i u razgovoru s pripadnicima radni?ke klase. Iako je sada jasno vidio da su njihove formule razmišljanja i govora jednako krute i šablonske, pa stoga i jednako daleko od bilo kakvog izraza istinitosti kao i formule svake druge klase, ?esto bi i dalje znao uhvatiti sebe kako ?eka, iracionalno vjeruju?i da bi im iz usta mogli iza?i biseri mudrosti.
~ Paul Bowles
The telemarketers who called her up now seemed either desperate or resigned to the point of a mindless drone, until Judith, who had time on her hands and ice in her heart, engaged them in dark conversations that always got her removed from their lists.
~ Unknown
Because men interrupt more often than women do, you need to learn to handle being interrupted rather than allowing the interruption to silence you. Think of an interruption not as a period in a sentence that ends a thought, but as a comma that merely pauses the thought. Your job is to complete the rest of the sentence.
~ Unknown
So the optimal plan, if you can manage it, is to have a few trusted friends you can speak openly to. This is not just a way to develop ideas; it's also a good rule of thumb for choosing friends. The people you can say heretical things to without getting jumped on are also the most interesting to know.
~ Paul Graham
So we should reject the attempt to divert the national conversation away from soaring inequality toward the alleged moral failings of those Americans being left behind. Traditional values aren't as crucial as social conservatives would have you believe—and, in any case, the social changes taking place in America's working class are overwhelmingly the consequence of sharply rising inequality, not its cause.
~ Paul Krugman
And when they start talking, and they always do, you find that each of them has a story they want to tell. Everyone, no matter how old or young, has some lesson they want to teach. And I sit there and listen and learn all about life from people who have no idea how to live it.
~ Paul Neilan
Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again.
~ Paul Simon
I am a book-collector, a proud avocationist in what Eric Quayle (wrongly) asserts to be the least vicious of hobbies (we are quite savage). We collectors are puzzled and often piqued unpleasantly by the common, absurd notion whereby we are only a pack of myopic, semi-crazed old pedants fretting over a book's colophon, dull dogs full of humorless zeal and no conversation, who suck our fingers free of pounce.
~ Paul Theroux
When she was done, I talked to her a little—and I was the only one.
~ Paul Theroux
He was eager to talk, glad to have a listener, and he didn't need prompting questions.
~ Paul Theroux
I had more questions, but the officer interrupted me with an order. "You can go, sir.
~ Paul Theroux
I'm going to have real tea," she said. I smiled in confusion. "With your tea bag," Beth said, and reached across the table to the saucer where my discarded tea bag lay like a dead mouse. Being a resourceful traveler, she popped the thing into her cup.
~ Paul Theroux
Yes, my mind was wandering. I wished I were there with someone who could bring peace to my heart someone with whom I could spend a little time without being afraid that i would lose him the next day. With that reassurance, the time would pass more slowly. We could be silent for a while because we'd know we had the rest of our lives together for conversation. I wouldn't have to worry about serious matters, about difficult decisions and hard words.
~ Paulo Coelho
The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don't talk anymore, they don't sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories.
~ Paulo Coelho
That's what the world is like: people talk as if they knew everything, but ifyou dare to ask a question, they don't know anything.
~ Paulo Coelho
The most important thing in human relationship is conversation.but people don't talk anymore,they don't sit down to talk and listen.They go to theatre,the cinema,watch television,listen to the radio,read books but they almost never talk.(pg114)
~ Paulo Coelho
They spent days, nights, weeks, and years talking, never accepting the fact that, good or bad, an idea only exists when someone tries to put it into practice.
~ Paulo Coelho
People say strange things, the boy thought. Sometimes it's better to be with the sheep, who don't say anything. And better still to be alone with one's books. They tell their incredible stories at the time when you want to hear them. But when you're talking to people, they say some things that are so strange that you don't know how to continue the conversation.
~ Paulo Coelho