How to Shine in Society
A notebook, a retentive memory and an ordinary command of the English language are necessary if you want to become a brilliant conversationalist.
Into the notebook should go those good stories, those admirable bits of repartee, which are floating about. Anecdotes about persons who are of passing interest should also be jotted down.
It is even advisable for the would be conversationalist to go to those older and more brilliant than herself and humbly ask to be "coached". It would be a mark of flattering regard for which the coacher ought to be willing to pay in choice jokes and rare stories - always provided that he or she did not need the entire stock on hand for the same dinner. There need be no deceit about using such stories. The woman who says, "Oh, by the way, have you heard Mr. Jones' last?" will have satisfied every claim of honesty, and at the same time will have contributed to the success of the party. And if one is willing to study colors and styles for one's dinner gown why not stories for one's table talk?
Published by: Bar Harbor Record, January 26, 1894
Written by: ?
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