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If you are really a wit, remember that in conversation its true office consists more in finding it in others, than showing off a great deal of it yourself. He who goes out of your company pleased with himself is sure to be pleased with you.

The Art of Conversation, 1866.

Jonathan Swift history and literature lit culture and society thought and opinion media and communication advice

Nothing is more generally exploded than the folly of talking too much; yet I rarely remember to have seen five people together, where some one among them hath not been predominant in that kind, to the great constraint and disgust of all the rest. But among such as deal in multitudes of words, none are comparable to the sober, deliberate talker, who proceedeth with much thought and caution, maketh his preface, brancheth out into several digressions, findeth a hint that putteth him in mind of another story, which he promises to tell you when this is done, cometh back regularly to his subject, cannot readily call to mind some person’s name, holdeth his head, complaineth of his memory; the whole company all this while in suspense; at last says, it is no matter, and so goes on. And to crown the business, it perhaps proveth at last a story the company has heard fifty times before, or at best some insipid adventure of the relater.

Jonathan Swift admonishes against talking too much in a meditation on the art of conversation.

thought and opinion advice culture and society media and communication

In disputes upon moral or scientific points, ever let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.

The art of conversation, 1866

writing Walter Benjamin culture and society history and literature lit thought and opinion advice

The Writer’s Technique in Thirteen Theses – Walter Benjamin’s timeless advice on writing, 1928.

quote thought and opinion history and literature lit advice Christopher Hitchens

Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others.

Christopher Hitchens, born April 13, 1949.

Roger Ebert advice writing history and literature lit thought and opinion media and communication

Wisdom on writing from Roger Ebert (RIP), echoing Chuck Close, E. B. White, Tchaikovsky, Jack White, and Isabel Allende.

psychology productivity advice thought and opinion culture and society creativity and innovation

Assume that on any given day you can accomplish one big mission, three medium tasks, and five small things. Get those done as best you can.

The 1-3-5 rule for more doable to-do lists. Pair with the psychology of what makes an effective to-do list.

Louis C. K. advice culture and society interviews thought and opinion humor

Does it matter that what you’ve achieved, with your online special and your tour can’t be replicated by other performers who don’t have the visibility or fan base that you do?

Why do you think those people don’t have the same resources that I have, the same visibility or relationship? What’s different between me and them?

You have the platform. You have the level of recognition.

So why do I have the platform and the recognition?

At this point you’ve put in the time.

There you go. There’s no way around that. There’s people that say: “It’s not fair. You have all that stuff.” I wasn’t born with it. It was a horrible process to get to this. It took me my whole life. If you’re new at this — and by “new at it,” I mean 15 years in, or even 20 — you’re just starting to get traction. Young musicians believe they should be able to throw a band together and be famous, and anything that’s in their way is unfair and evil. What are you, in your 20s, you picked up a guitar? Give it a minute.

Louis C. K. on success and hard work, echoing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous words that “nothing any good isn’t hard” and Debbie Millman’s sage advice that “things take a long time; practice patience.”

Mark Twain kids history and literature lit art and design art illustration children's book advice

Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged. You ought never to ‘sass’ old people unless they ‘sass’ you first.

Mark Twain’s Advice to Little Girls.

Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged. You ought never to ‘sass’ old people unless they ‘sass’ you first.

Mark Twain’s Advice to Little Girls.

advice history and literature poetry National Poetry Month lit lists writing

1. Read, read read! Classic poems for children and adults, books about poetry. Never trust anyone who writes more than he or she reads. Even if you want to write free verse, learn verse forms and metrics until your eyes glaze over. You can break those rules, but only after you have learned them first.

2. Make a dictionary your best friend, no matter how geeky that sounds. Most children will speak only one language in their lifetimes, so why not make your fluency in that language as masterful as you can.

3. If you say you want to be a writer (prose or poetry), I applaud you. The next words out of your mouth should be, “But I promise to be a rewriter!” I don’t even know why we use the word “writer.” All the great writers in the world have been rewriters. So buy yourself a big wastebasket, and keep it filled.

Advice to aspiring poets from J. Patrick Lewis, the current United States children’s poet laureate.

Pair with H. P. Lovecraft’s advice to aspiring writers and Ezra Pound’s list of don’ts for budding poets.

George Plimpton advice history and literature lit media and communication

George Plimpton on the art of public speaking and how to overcome stage fright.

thought and opinion writing Neil Gaiman advice history and literature lit

You want to be a writer? Keep writing.
Neil Gaiman on his old cat and writing. Pair with his 8 rules of writing and his timeless advice on living the creative life, then break out the tissues and wash down with Hemingway Shoots His Cat.
Cats, in fact, have a long history as literary muses.

You want to be a writer? Keep writing.

Neil Gaiman on his old cat and writing. Pair with his 8 rules of writing and his timeless advice on living the creative life, then break out the tissues and wash down with Hemingway Shoots His Cat.

Cats, in fact, have a long history as literary muses.

writing thought and opinion history and literature lit Oscar Wilde advice culture and society letters

The best work in literature is always done by those who do not depend on it for their daily bread and the highest form of literature, Poetry, brings no wealth to the singer.

Make some sacrifice for your art and you will be repaid but ask of art to sacrifice herself for you and a bitter disappointment may come to you.

In a newly discovered letter, Oscar Wilde offers an aspiring writer the secret of literary success, joining our ongoing archive of advice on writing.

Wilde’s words, embedded in which is a poignant addition to history’s finest definitions of art, are reminiscent of Alan Watts’s admonition that money shouldn’t be the object of life, which George Saunders recently echoed.

history and literature lit writing Chinua Achebe advice

[Writers] ask me, ‘Is it good to shoot my manuscript to other people to get their advice?’ My answer is, ‘No!’ You are in it for the duration – don’t expect any kind of lowering of the terms of imprisonment that you’re going to have. You are your own editor, and so it’s yours.

Beloved Nigerian author Chinua Achebe talks to Studio 360’s Kurt Andersen. Achebe, celebrated for having put African literature on the world map with his groundbreaking 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, passed away this week at the age of 82.

advice thought and opinion Bertrand Russell culture and society philosophy

Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

Bertrand Russell