The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense,
the third good humor, and the fourth wit.
It is a secret known but to few, yet of no small use in the conduct of
life, that when you fall into a man's conversation, the first thing
you should consider is, whether he has a greater inclination to hear
you, or that you should hear him.--STEELE.
In my whole life I have only known ten or twelve persons with whom it
was pleasant to speak--_i.e._, who keep to the subject, do not repeat
themselves, and do not talk of themselves; men who do not listen to
their own voice, who are cultivated enough not to lose themselves in
commonplaces, and, lastly, who possess tact and good taste enough not
to elevate their own persons above their subjects.--METTERNICH.
COUNSEL.--I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be
one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching.--SHAKESPEARE.
The best receipt--best to work and best to take--is the admonition of
a friend.--BACON.
Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect
yourself. His counsel may then be useful, where your own self-love
might impair your judgment.--SENECA.
Let no man value at little price a virtuous woman's counsel.--GEORGE
CHAPMAN.
COURAGE.--The conscience of every man recognizes courage as the
foundation of manliness, and manliness as the perfection of human
character.--THOMAS HUGHES.
To struggle when hope is banished!
To live when life's salt is gone!
To dwell in a dream that's vanished!
To endure, and go calmly on!
The brave man is not he who feels no fear,
For that were stupid and irrational;
But he, whose noble soul its fear subdues,
And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.
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