You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

John Wanamaker, founder of the stores that bear his name, once confessed: "I learned thirty years ago that it is foolish to scold. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence.

Give your problem all the thought you possibly can before a solution is reached. But when the matter is settled and over with, worry not at all.

If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.

In talking with people, don't begin by discussing the things on which you differ. Begin by emphasizing - and keep on emphasizing - the things on which you agree. Keep emphasizing, if possible, that you are both striving for the same end and that your only difference is one of method and not of purpose.

So if you aspire to be a good conversationali st, be an attentive listener.

If you want to be a good conversationalist, be a good listener. To be interesting, be interested.