One of the vices of the virtue of decentralization is that people don't share ideas.

The commercial class has always mistrusted verbal brilliancy and wit, deeming such qualities, perhaps with some justice, frivolous and unprofitable.

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place but to leave the unsaid the wrong thing thing at the tempting moment.

Conversation is an exercise of the mind; gossip is merely an exercise of the tongue.

There is no moral virtue in being endowed with genius rather than talent: It is a gift of the gods or the luck of the genes.