At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.–W. Somerset Maugham, 1896
W. Somerset Maugham was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer who also held a medical degree. Maugham could have been a surgeon, but chose to use his medical background to influence his writing, as it did in his first novel in 1897 Liza of Lambeth, which was a tale of working-class adultery.
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October 2, 2012
Good one! Unless you are dining among serious gastronomes, who want to talk about what they eat as they eat it, I agree it’s best not to knock ’em down with what you’ve cooked. I once had a guest who burst into tears at a party for 10 that I’d cooked for; she had one bite and broke down. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever had,” she said, looking deeply pained. “And I cannot imagine I’ll ever get it again.”
October 2, 2012
Yes, I try and restrict my all-food conversations to dinners full of people like you!
October 8, 2012
What a wonderful anecdote!