Google Quotes of the Day had this little gem to say:
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
Dorothy Nevill
Now I know where I’ve been going wrong all these years. I wish someone had told me.
/
The Magnificent Frog 
oh you see, that’s what i do, but then people think i’m boring, or shy, or aloof
gah
People are idiots. I view it as my duty to tell them. Leaving stuff unsaid means I cant.
Oh I see, Dorothy Neville was clearly one of those people who didn’t like being on the receiving end of uncomfortable truths. That’s OK then, I shall carry on as before.
Speak first, think later – it’s not my motto it’s what I do! Fortunately my foot in mouth moments are too numerous to mention!
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
Words to live by! Great find Hov!
And I like Dom’s too!
And apparently I like exclamations!!
Sheesh…
Great quote.
I’m also a fan of “never eat yellow snow.”
A good, though sometimes disruptive rule to live by, if it’s funny, say it
Cat, mine too. Then again if we all thought before speaking we’d never have those “out of the mouths of babes” moments that are so precious.
Dom, also “if you’ve put your foot in your mouth, stop trying to put the other one in”.
Tam, you do seem to like them.
Bill, isn’t that a Frank Zappa lyric? “Don’t you eat that yellow snow, watch out where the huskies go”
I beg to differ with Dorothy – what she’s describing isn’t the art of conversation at all. Its the art of diplomacy. If you want something from that person, this is what you do. Diplomatic dialogues or negotiations are never much cop for conversation.
Span, I don’t like it because I don’t get to blurt out inappropriate things her way. Sometimes the best conversations have an element of awkwardness or embarrassment about them.
That is a very good point. I am slightly prone to the latter rather than the former in that quote me thinks.