A person who talks with equal vivacity on every subject, excites no interest in any. Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.
My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.
I yearn for intellectual sustenance on vacation but want, of course, to avoid tedium or boredom. I want to read something that will entertain me but also help me appreciate what I am seeing.
I miss being exposed to the leading thinkers of the world.
We hear eagerly every thought and word quoted from an intellectual man. But in his presence our own mind is roused to activity, and we forget very fast what he says.
The heavy subject matter is the most fun stuff to work with. It's the meaty things, it's the things that you get to get stuck in.
The only proper intoxication is conversation.
Ah, good conversation - there's nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.
