Top 100 Quotes About Small Talk
#2. No child, still less a fetus, has ever mastered the art of small talk, or would ever want to. It's an adult device, a covenant with boredom and deceit.
Ian McEwan
#3. We struck up a conversation, but took pains to keep to small talk at first. We touched on the most trivial of topics: I asked if he thought the fate of man was unalterable. He thought it was.
Gunter Grass
#4. I'm hopeless at small talk and have a problem making eye contact.
Gary Numan
#5. That's all small talk is - a quick way to connect on a human level - which is why it is by no means as irrelevant as the people who are bad at it insist. In short, it's worth making the effort.
Lynn Coady
#6. Ah. I suppose." Oh, this was deeply unpleasant. Being trapped into meaningless small talk with an idiot had never intrigued him, even on a good day. Which this wasn't.
Morgan Rhodes
#8. I hate having to do small talk. I'd rather talk about deep subjects. I'd rather talk about meditation, or the world, or the trees or animals, than small, inane, you know, banter.
Ellen DeGeneres
#9. The stress of making small talk with in-laws is called being part of a family.
Judith Martin
#11. So ... this is the dark dungeon where the very angry Tristan sleeps?"
"No. This is the dark dungeon where the very dangerous Tristan keeps himself away from the very carless young woman."
Clearly, he was in no mood for small talk.
Chelsea Fine
#12. I am not a vivacious person in real. I hate smiling. I hate doing small talk.
Anushka Sharma
#13. You're going to merge your mind with the mind of eternity that goes on forever; that is not easy. It's very intense. I mean sitting on Mount St. Helens when it went off would have been small talk.
Frederick Lenz
#14. Making small talk about what someone is wearing is just another form of unsolicited feedback.
Sophia Amoruso
#16. I'm not good at meeting people, and I'm not good at small talk.
Nick Frost
#18. If Christians cannot communicate as thinking beings, they are reduced to encountering one another only at the shallow level of gossip and small talk. Hence the perhaps peculiarly modern problem - the loneliness of the thinking Christian.
Harry Blamires
#19. I don't think my acting was ever bad; I always knew that I could do it. But when you go to audition for a drama, they're very serious in the room, and I was used to being kind of goofy and having small talk.
Mary Lynn Rajskub
#20. He was able to sit in silence for long stretches without feeling a need to make small talk.
Charles R. Cross
#21. But it wasn't that I wasn't big on socializing. It was that I wasn't very good at mingling. Small talk did nothing for me. Connecting in a vague way that was meaningless left me cold.
Kristen Ashley
#22. For one thing, he wasn't sure what kind of small talk to make with a guy who'd recently come back from Tartarus. Catch that last episode of Doctor Who? Oh, right. You were trudging through the Pit of Eternal Damnation!
Rick Riordan
#24. I hate small talk with a passionate hatred. Why? I suppose because any meeting with another human being is collision for me now.
May Sarton
#25. I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?
Maya Angelou
#26. She had a pure and fiery hatred for anything that could be classified as small talk.
Maggie Stiefvater
#27. Let's clear one thing up: Introverts do not hate small talk because we dislike people. We hate small talk because we hate the barrier it creates between people.
Laurie A. Helgoe
#28. During depression the world disappears. Language itself. One has nothing to say. Nothing. No small talk, no anecdotes. Nothing can be risked on the board of talk. Because the inner voice is so urgent in its own discourse: How shall I live? How shall I manage the future? Why should I go on?
Kate Millett
#29. Introverts tend to avoid small talk. We'd rather talk about something meaningful than fill the air with chatter just to hear ourselves make noise.
Jenn Granneman
#30. Every morning, after a few sips of coffee and a bit of small talk, each of us retreats with our books, and travels centuries away from this place.
Yxta Maya Murray
#31. The hallmark of successful small talk is when people take turns to speak and to listen. Turn-taking is a social communication skill because it involves taking turns to speak and to listen.
Betty Bohm
#32. Small talk acts like your toothpaste that helps combat this process with good conversational hygiene. Here
Jack Steel
#33. I'm not good at small talk; I'm not good at big talk; and medium talk just doesn't come up.
Amy Hempel
#34. less small talk
and more real talk.
Nikki Rowe
#36. I imagine how cool it would be if all small talk wasn't lies.
Jodi Picoult
#37. If I were a gynecologist, I'd say things like, Okay, enough of the small talk. Let's check under the hood.
Dov Davidoff
#38. The presence of so many words inside her head made her incapable of small talk, just at the time when she needed small talk most.
Paullina Simons
#39. You're not big on people, are you?"
"I wouldn't say that. Just ... when faced with the choice between small talk with strangers and peace and quiet, I'll choose the latter every time. You know?
Kirsten Hubbard
#40. Introverts don't like small talk conversation, but they typically don't mind writing. The more people can "see" you on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or a blog, the more they will feel like they know you, even though you don't have one-on-one interaction with them.
Thom S. Rainer
#41. Death was the hot bath you promised yourself while you endured small talk and uncomfortable shoes. You could stop pretending to have a good time when you were dead.
Liane Moriarty
#42. Just because you can leap off a drum kit doing a scissors kick while hitting a chord, people expect you to be an extrovert socially. But I'm not always comfortable with the idea of small talk at a party.
Alex Kapranos
#43. Normally, small talk is enough for me to form an opinion of someone. I make quick judgments, often completely wrong, and then stick by them rigidly.
Alex Garland
#44. Here's a guy [Richard Nixon] who had no gift for small talk, never liked to be around strangers, was physically awkward, and he goes into the one business that calls for ease with strangers and a gift for small talk.
Harry Shearer
#45. The highly sensitive tend to be philosophical or spiritual in their orientation, rather than materialistic or hedonistic. They dislike small talk. They
Susan Cain
#46. I'm driving so it's your job to make small talk."
"Oh."
"Not that small." He waved at the security guard as we left the club. "Make medium talk.
Marta Acosta
#47. If you're worried about your very life, the last thing you want is small talk.
Rhys Bowen
#48. The smell of hospitals is like small talk at a funeral - you know its function is to cover up something else.
Tim Kreider
#49. My English is closer to the literary English, and I'm not very familiar with jokes in English or with, you know, with small talk in English.
J.M.G. Le Clezio
#50. ...and he suddenly opened his eyes and stared straight ahead into an empty space till slowly we returned into view. I can make small talk, he said slowly, I can do that but out of the corner of my eye I can see the dark approaching.
Dermot Healy
#51. We are both busy people, so let's cut the small talk.
David Mitchell
#52. I don't Twitter or blog. I'm bad at small talk, and don't have good 'chat'. Talk to me about publishing, and I can go on for hours.
Andrew Wylie
#54. Silence - people are afraid of it - they feel the need to make small talk, anything, just to break the stillness. I don't feel any such need. To me, silence brings about peace and certitude.
Henry Martin
#55. His wife is washed up against him, clinging lifelessly to his arm like seaweed, with no pretense of listening to the priest's small talk.
Paul Murray
#56. The next time you find yourself on the receiving end of a conversation assault, take a moment to have a little self-compassion. Remember that other introverts share your slow-talking tendencies, your hatred of small talk, and your disdain for the phone.
Michaela Chung
#57. Maybe it was the home tutoring, or the late start to formal schooling, or an overly cautious and protective upbringing, but in any case, I never became a talkative person. As an adult, I am not always comfortable in social gatherings with small talk. I must have inherited my father's gentle nature.
Charles K. Kao
#58. How could I persuade the in-laws I was the right one for their daughter when, instead of focusing on small talk, all I could think about was not to kill them? I could only imagine what I'd say to the prospective in-laws, Hello, it's a pleasure to eat, I mean, meet you.
Jayde Scott
#59. Given any new technology for transmitting information, we seem bound to use it for great quantities of small talk. We are only saved by music from being overwhelmed by nonsense.
Lewis Thomas
#60. Why do people value others' time so little? Now we would have the inevitable small talk. I could have spent fifteen minutes at home practicing aikido.
Graeme Simsion
#61. He avoided small talk at the best of times and this, unquestionably, was a million horrific miles from the best of times.
Jane Harper
#62. I am not good at small talk. I will hide in a cupboard to avoid chitty-chat.
Caitlin Moran
#63. How about you don't kill anybody for a little bit?"
"I can't make that promise."
Small talk with the dragon. How are you? Eaten any adventurers lately? Sure, just had one this morning. Look, I still got his femur stuck in my teeth. Is that upsetting to you?
Ilona Andrews
#64. One of the great things about LinkedIn is it isn't the same kind of networking that happens at conventions, where you're wearing a name tag, trying to meet strangers, and awkwardly attempting to make small talk. LinkedIn is networking without the pressure.
Melanie Pinola
#65. He made small talk on the way about how he was abandoned as a child and will only rest easy once he is avenged. His name was Tom.
The Harvard Lampoon
#66. I crave the sweet surrender of sleep and my dreams' uncensored communication: no tiresome small talk, sucking up to impress, or tiptoeing around charged topics. Dreams are the naked truth; get ready for it.
Judith Orloff
#67. I always knew I had no small talk, and now I know I've got no big talk either.
Sue Townsend
#68. She'd just spent the last hours engaged in endless small talk. Now, when it mattered so much, she seemed to have no words to say, or even breath to speak them with. All her life she'd always had such trouble with words: finding them and losing them, hoarding them and wasting them.
Penn Williamson
#69. Things are embarrassing, best to avoid them. But since your death I prefer a naturalist style of conversation. Let's strip it down to what matters. Let's have emotions and beliefs on show without the modest covering of small talk.
Rosamund Lupton
#70. Most personal correspondence of today consists of letters the first half of which are given over to an indexed statement of why the writer hasn't written before, followed by one paragraph of small talk, with the remainder devoted to reasons why it is imperative that the letter be brought to a close.
Robert Benchley
#71. If you chose Option 2 [confrontation], you did well. People will be less likely to engage you in office small talk of any kind, but that's likely a benefit when you consider the fact that every ten minutes of office small talk takes one year off of your life.
Baratunde R. Thurston
#72. In a way, we tried to make 'The Salvation' a contemporary film with contemporary emotions. At the same time, in the script, you get a feel that all the small talk is not a part of our universe. It's more precise talk.
Mads Mikkelsen
#73. I've tried it a few times, when I'm alone in the car. But I never get past small talk. I feel sort of like I'm invading the baby's space or like it's going to wonder, after two months of respectful silence, why I've suddenly decided we need to get all personal with each other.
Rainbow Rowell
#74. Intimacies between women often go backwards, beginning in revelations and ending in small talk.
Elizabeth Bowen
#75. You really do unique small talk," she said as he caught up to her, walked side by side. "Well, these things keep a conversation well lubricated. Only thing worse than a dry fuck is small talk.
Joey W. Hill
#77. He could say nothing. He had no right to be there, he had already been profoundly changed, he was no good at small talk, she was half naked, it was dawn and he loved her.
Mark Helprin
#78. I'm not a good small talker. I'm not into small talk, frankly.
Mohamed ElBaradei
#80. In spite of being professionally gregarious, in my nonpaid hours I'm a bit of a hermit. After being around a crew of fifty people for twelve hours a day on a film set, I really like my alone time, and as always, I abhor small talk.
Rob Lowe
#81. Like so many other office workers of the world, I will obey my master, the clock, and will obediently nod to my co-workers and make small talk about sports, kids and weather - all things I'm not genuinely interested in.
Rob Payne
#82. Cyndi Lauper is really good at talking to you about normal things. It's strange to be in the presence of a big celebrity like that. You want to make these connections and say things related to being a fan. It's not as interesting for them. She's amazing at making small talk without it seeming small.
Barrett Foa
#83. You can call me Seth, you know." She shrugged. "You used to." She used to do other things with him too. Like laugh and touch and make small talk. "Jack always called you Murphy. I got used to it.
Denise Hunter
#84. He had always pitched in his conversational ante, and if he had contributed infrequently thereafter, it was because he was only interested when the stakes reached a certain minimum level. Small talk was usually a waste of time.
Kim Stanley Robinson
#85. My hair is very fine, so I use Tigi Bed Head Small Talk before I blow dry for volume, and I'm a firm believer in Tigi Rockaholic dry shampoo to keep volume throughout the day.
Sasha Jackson
#86. I thought you were makin' small talk about the weather."
"When have I ever made small talk with you?"
"When we first met."
"No, I made small talk with Bessie, your shotgun, until you removed her double barrels from my kisser."
Violet and a typical conversation with Harvey
Ann Charles
#87. Tell her how much you love her; everything after that is small talk.
Craig Johnson
#88. In the aftermath of death Small talk feels too small, big talk too enormous.
Anna Quindlen
#89. Present your product and service simple and direct. Eliminate senseless small talk that takes up valuable time.
Timi Nadela
#90. During the Samuel Johnson days they had big men enjoying small talk; today we have small men enjoying big talk.
Fred Allen
#91. Not wanting anyone to pop my bubble by speaking to me, I immediately began reading Lesbian Nuns, and that did the trick. No one attempted small talk.
John Waters
#92. I might have hasked a question ... , except that 1. I didn't know what it was, and 2. I didn't care to learn, and 3. I never really excelled in small talk.
John Green
#93. There was an awkwardness to him, a stoicism that most people, with their need for appearances and fake smiles, found off-putting. Shane couldn't handle small talk or the excess bullshittery of modern society. When
Harlan Coben
#94. I'd been accused of being standoffish and bitchy. The truth was, it wasn't that I was mean or unfriendly. I just generally sucked at small talk with people I didn't know, and most important, I had a severe case of resting bitch face.
Jennifer L. Armentrout
#95. I would rather read a mediocre book than waste time sitting around with people making small talk.
James D. Sass
#96. I can't do small talk really, and that's fine. I've got old friends and family that love me, thank God. I'm grateful for what a city gives you access to, but I do feel that I'm only here until I figure out how to get out again.
Laura Marling
#98. The best way to become good at small talk is not to talk small at all.
Keith Ferrazzi
#99. It's all a matter of habit. There's no right or wrong in it. Nobody means anything by it. And it's so quaint, and gives such a smart emphasis to things that are not in themselves very witty. I find the new small talk delightful and quite innocent.
George Bernard Shaw
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