much money!" "I bought stock the day before you were
proclaimed First Consul," replied the ex-bishop, "and I sold
it the day after."

Compliments are light skirmishes in the war of flattery, for
the purpose of obtaining an occasional object. They are
little false coins that you receive with one hand and pay
away with the other. To flatter requires a profound knowledge
of human nature and of the character of your subject; to
compliment skillfully, it is sufficient that you are a pupil
of Spurzheim.

It is a common practice with men to abstain from grave
conversation with women. And the habit is in general
judicious. If the woman is young, gay and trifling, talk to
her only of the latest fashions, the gossip of the day, etc.
But this in other cases is not to be done. Most women who are
a little old, particularly married women -- and even some who
are young -- wish to obtain a reputation for intellect and an
acquaintance With science. You therefore pay them a real
compliment, and gratify their self-love, by conversing
occasionally upon grave matters, which they do not
understand, and do not really relish. You may interrupt a
discussion on the beauty of a dahlia, by observing that as
you know that they take an interest in such things you
mention the discovery of a new method of analyzing curves of
double curvature. Men who talk only of trifles will rarely be
popular with women past twenty-five.

Talk to a mother about her children. Women are never tired of