Source text in English | Translation by Lisbeth Valentin Madsen (#9850) |
I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought, but it's been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought. A businessman's conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are: Have something to say. Say it. Stop talking. Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a short cut to the second. I maintain a legal department here, and it costs a lot of money, but it's to keep me from going to law. It's all right when you are calling on a girl or talking with friends after dinner to run a conversation like a Sunday-school excursion, with stops to pick flowers; but in the office your sentences should be the shortest distance possible between periods. Cut out the introduction and the peroration, and stop before you get to secondly. You've got to preach short sermons to catch sinners; and deacons won't believe they need long ones themselves. Give fools the first and women the last word. The meat's always in the middle of the sandwich. Of course, a light butter on either side of it doesn't do any harm if it's intended for a man who likes butter. Remember, too, that it's easier to look wise than to talk wisdom. Say less than the other fellow and listen more than you talk; for when a man's listening he isn't telling on himself and he's flattering the fellow who is. Give most men a good listener and most women enough note-paper and they'll tell all they know. Money talks -- but not unless its owner has a loose tongue, and then its remarks are always offensive. Poverty talks, too, but nobody wants to hear what it has to say. | Jeg kan huske, at jeg engang læste, at nogle mænd bruger sproget til at skjule tanker, men det er min erfaring, at en hel del flere bruger det i stedet for tanker. En forretningsmands konversation bør reguleres af færre og simplere regler end nogen anden af menneskedyrets funktioner. De er: Hav noget at sige. Sig det. Hold op med at tale. At begynde, før du ved, hvad du vil sige, og at fortsætte efter, at du har sagt det, sender en handelsmand i retssalen eller fattighuset, og den første er en genvej til den anden. Jeg oppebærer en juridisk afdeling her, og det koster en masse penge, men det er for at afholde mig fra sagsanlæg. Når du besøger en pige eller taler med venner efter middagen, er det i orden at føre en samtale som en søndagsskoleudflugt med pauser til at plukke blomster; men på arbejdet bør dine sætninger være den kortest mulige afstand mellem punktummerne. Udelad indledningen og afslutningen, og stop, før du når til det næste. Du skal holde korte prædikener for at fange syndere; og diakoner tror ikke selv, de har brug for de lange af dem. Giv tåber det første og kvinder det sidste ord. Kødet er altid midt i en sandwich. Et tyndt lag smør på hver side af det skader naturligvis ikke, hvis den er tiltænkt en mand, der holder af smør. Husk også, at det er lettere at se vis ud end at tale vise ord. Sig mindre end den anden mand og lyt mere, end du taler; for mens en mand lytter, afslører han ikke sig selv, og han smigrer ham, der gør. Giv flertallet af mænd en god lytter og flertallet af kvinder tilstrækkeligt med notatpair, så vil de fortælle dig alt, hvad de ved. Penge taler -- men kun, hvis deres ejer har et løst tungebånd, og så er deres kommentarer altid anstødelige. Fattigdom taler også, men ingen ønsker at høre, hvad den har at sige. |