Evening star., 1932-05-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| The ideal talker Qf there is any such
! thing is calm. and that means serious.
He is not easily irritated by the words
or ideas of another, but holds his re-
torts well in hand. preventing them at
all times from becoming what is usually
called personal.
The too personal converSationalist is
one of the greatest pests in the talking
world. 1t might seem ohhand as II
every person beyond the first grade in
grammar school would realize the ne
cessity for abstract ideas.
Neither life nor friendship can be
carried on without them. There are
thousands of theoretical ideas which
must be approached in every day con-
versation and yet which impinge upon
the lives Of all human beings, but which
must be separated very carefully from
any one life, if the conversation Is not
to take nasty personal tinge.
1t is right at this point that many
otherwise happy conversationalists fail
miserably to make the most Of their
abilities. They insist on injecting the
personal into every thought. thereby
showing their ego-centric approach to
the problems of life.
INO OOuDb llilS uIllOl hhAluNN AAoOAt Va
theirs is responsible for the fact that
they are so easily irritated in ordinary
daily conversation.
Their minds present multitudes OF
sore mental thumbs, which other people,
without the slightest awareneSS OF their
fault, insist on kicking, or punching, or
treading on
The typical "kidder," or funlover, as
he thinks of himself, Is Subvariety OF
this interesting specimen.
The Joker covers himself up better,
perhaps. and thus saves many mental
toe, easily irritated. from becoming the
victim of a understanding intellectual
boot.
He loses a great deal, however, for
those who talk with him are mostly Ill
at their ease never knowing when an
attack may be launched upon them.
This uncertainty forces them to keep
their mental energies ready to meet the
possible onslaught. rather than spend
part of it imparting to the other such
cleverness or wit or knowledge as they
may possess. Thus the "hdder" really
kids himself because he cuts himself
off. automatically, from any real return
from conversation.
X X
And there Is no doubt at all that,
next to reading, one receives more real
information in this world from talking
to others than in any other way.
Only the rare soul is able to go
through life wisely and alone. Most
human beings, no matter who they
are, find that some amount of aSSocia-
ton with other human beings is neces-
sary.
Sane conversation. free from irrita-
bility, too much joking and an intense
personal bias, is one of the greatest
benefits from friendship and acQuaint-
anceShip.
The abstract talker is the crown and
peak of conversationalists, because he
alone is able to use the human mind
as it may be used and therefore ought
to be used.
In this happy process he can succeed
best when talking to a like mind, one
which is free from the innumerable
special topics which make SO many
conversations wearisome.
Do you not know some man who
can talk about nothing but airplanes?
Or some woman whose one topic is
clothes?
Such people are earnest enough, but
they are a weariness to the spirit of
man and blight on any conversation
in which they engage.
There is a crying need in the world
now for calm, sane converSationalistS.
without special topics to harp on CT
special axes to grind. How can man
kind get anywhere. Intellectually. If
most of its members cannot talk
together without becoming red in the
face?