The Principles of the Art of Conversation

"There can be no doubt that of all the accomplishments prized in modern society that of being agreeable in conversation is the very first." – says John Pentland Mahaffy, a prominent Irish thinker, a polymath, and the favorite teacher of Robert Burns in the introduction to this work. He was foremost famous for his incomparable wit and intellect. Upon hearing that one of his acquaintances was ill, he is said to have remarked, «Nothing trivial, I hope?» Being a master of conversation, he transformed this art into the subject of research, and his aim was to transfer his findings to the next generations. He views the nature of the conversation and its main characteristics, thus driving out a receipt of what is a successful conversation.