"THE art of conversation has more or less died out: but by any standards it is a useful accomplishment, seeing that there is really no means of contacting the mind of another human being unless one talks to it.

Good conversation, like every other accomplishment, needs practice. Nowadays, this is hard to come by. We have the heated argument, we have the man who keeps the table in fits with his funny stories, we have the specialist holding forth on his subject: but this is not conversation. The parry and thrust, the subtle turning of a phrase, the timing, and above all the intelligent give and take of really good conversation needs bright people playing a game of verbal tennis: with not too many service aces either!
As entertainment it surpasses television."