[originaltext] When I first went to London as a student, I sat a lone during

When I first went to London as a student, I sat a lone during parties with my glass of wine. I hoped people would think that I was having great thoughts and that someone might come up to me and say "Excuse me, I hope you won’t mind my coming up to you like this. I don’t want to interrupt your thoughts. But really, you are the only interesting-looking person in the room. May I talk to you? It never happened. Here is some ad vice if you would like to be a good conversationalist. Be an attentive listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. To be interesting, be interested. Ask questions that other people will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and what they have done. Remember that the people you are talking to are a hundred times more interested in themselves and their problems than they are in you and your problems. A person’s toothache means more to that person than a famine in Africa which kills a million people. A pain in one’s arm interests one more than forty earthquakes in America. Think of that the next time you start a conversation. Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who is sup posed to have lived in a barrel, said, "The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so that we may listen more and talk less."