The expert in talk will aim to please and not to instruct; he will not disturb the convictions of elderly persons who have made up their minds; nor the self-complacency of any by a display of superiority, especially in his judgment or reasoning powers; if he boasts, it will be of his luck and not of his cleverness; he may compliment a woman on her beauty, but never a rich man on his riches; he will contradict only those who disparage themselves, and if he dips into a deep question, he will only stir it and not settle it; he will avoid allusions to his own ailments, but sedulously inquire about those of others; but his chief aim will be to find out first whether the person whom he addresses prefers to talk or to listen, and scrupulously let him have his way. * * * * * When all are of one mind, what is left to say worth hearing? * * * * * Save your best thoughts for your best friends. * * * * * Frivolity is the armor of good society, worn to protect it against the violence of passions and the ennui of enthusiasms. * * * * * Subservience to society is in man what “protective mimicry” is in insects,――an unconscious tendency to imitation for the purpose of self-preservation. * * * * * Youth looks to be received in society with greater sympathy than it finds; age will find more than it generally expects. * * * * * Acquaintances rate us first at the value we put on ourselves; later at the value we prove to them. * * * * * Those who visit you, find out how you live; you must visit them to find out how they live. * * * * * Forgive if you can, but do not forget. Characters change little, and a base action is a landmark worth remembering. * * * * * A lie comes readier in society than in solitude; but for all that, it is easier to deceive oneself than others. * * * * * Only those of violent prejudices violently attack the prejudices of others. * * * * * It is a rule in polite society not to refer to three subjects――a man’s false hair, his religion, or his politics; and for the same reason――because neither is his own, but merely borrowed from others. * * * * * Curious inconsistency! People talk willingly about their physical ailments, but unwillingly about their moral defects; though the former cannot be mended by discussing them, and the latter might be. * * * * * Silence is often sanatory. There are subjects, thoughts, and memories which, like certain bodily functions, cannot be avoided, but should not be talked about. * * * * *