“
The silence between us stretched out, but it wasn't awkward. Sometimes there are people you can be quiet with, and you never feel the need to fill the gap with meaningless chit-chat. I'd only become that close to a couple people in my hometown, and I'd always thought it took years. Lucas and I were already there.
”
”
Claudia Gray (Evernight (Evernight, #1))
“
They were men, and free. I was a woman, and a slave. And that’s a chasm no amount of sentimental chit-chat about shared imprisonment should be allowed to obscure.
”
”
Pat Barker (The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy, #1))
“
There was no time for chit-chat when there were chocolate chip pancakes to be eaten.
”
”
Kristen Day (Forsaken (Daughters of the Sea, #1))
“
I always feel myself being thrust back into loneliness when someone tells me it's cold on a hot day. It isn't good to talk so much about the weather — weather is a highly personal matter, and communication on the subject inevitably fails.
”
”
Yōko Tawada (Memoirs of a Polar Bear)
“
Sure. I'll make small talk. Chit chat.
Discuss the ins and outs of a "typical" day.
Pass the time lightly. Say tiny things.
I'm happy to tread surfaces with a smile,
and will. Sometimes.
Yet- when I look at you,
I know there are layers.
Dimensions. Collections of ancient wisdom.
Roads. Stories on stories on stories.
Core needs.
There is humanness.
This is where I light up.
This is where I thrive.
You can't be caged in a pool for long.
Not when you're someone
who wants oceans.
”
”
Victoria Erickson
“
It’s nice to hear your voice…?” The statement came out sounding like a question, as though I
were playing jeopardy and I’d chosen my category-
‘I’ll take ‘Charming Chit Chat’ for $200, Alex’ and behind the $200 read: ‘This is what you say
to the hot guy- you abandoned- when he returns after you inexplicably leave him and his private
jet in Las Vegas after having amazing and multiple occurrences of the hot sex.
”
”
Penny Reid (Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City, #1))
“
I don't know what you believe in. I believe we just stop. Because if we move on to an afterlife, any kind of afterlife, that means there will be other people there. I'm tired of the chit chat. Oh, that is a handsome boy. He takes after his grandfather. Did they change the breakfast again? It tastes different to me.
For Eternity? No thanks.
”
”
Joey Comeau (It's Too Late to Say I'm Sorry)
“
Germany:We've called this conference to solve the world's problems, not to fight about the problems of our past. And since I'm the only country who seems to know how to run a meeting we'll follow my rules from here on out. Eight minutes each for speeches, no chit chat about side deals and absolutely no going over the time limit. Now if you want to go, make sure you're prepared and raise your hand but do so in a way that does not mock any salute of my country's past.
”
”
Hidekaz Himaruya
“
Give space to your thoughts, clear the noise in your head, chit-chat with your inner critic, decide and move on.
”
”
Cristina Imre (The Hidden Language of the Mind: Self Help Guide: Explaining the hard stuff the easy way)
“
Our Lady of Cheribim Chit-Chat.
”
”
Rebecca Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
“
At cocktail parties, I played the part of a successful businessman's wife to perfection. I smiled, I made polite chit-chat, and I dressed the part. Denial and rationalization were two of my most effective tools in working my way through our social obligations. I believed that playing the roles of wife and mother were the least I could do to help support Tom's career.
During the day, I was a puzzle with innumerable pieces. One piece made my family a nourishing breakfast. Another piece ferried the kids to school and to soccer practice. A third piece managed to trip to the grocery store. There was also a piece that wanted to sleep for eighteen hours a day and the piece that woke up shaking from yet another nightmare. And there was the piece that attended business functions and actually fooled people into thinking I might have something constructive to offer.
I was a circus performer traversing the tightwire, and I could fall off into a vortex devoid of reality at any moment. There was, and had been for a very long time, an intense sense of despair. A self-deprecating voice inside told me I had no chance of getting better. I lived in an emotional black hole.
p20-21, talking about dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder).
”
”
Suzie Burke (Wholeness: My Healing Journey from Ritual Abuse)
“
I normally fuck first, dine later. I usually prefer the dining to be done alone without all the awkward chit-chat.
”
”
Maya St. James (Pawn - Volume 1 (Pawn, #1))
“
Naomi looked around the room, then down at the cup. Then back around the room. Then again at the cup. No. Way. “Hello?” “Hello! Is this how you greet all new acquaintances? Trap them, maim them, and then chit chat?
”
”
S.A. Hunter (Unicorn Bait (Unicorn Bait #1))
“
I really just want someone to come over and brush my hair or let me cry in their lap while they pet my head and tell me I'll be okay." And I cried harder because I felt so ashamed to want that from a friend—from someone who was not a romantic partner or a parent—because I didn't have either right now but I still wanted it. We section off physical comfort and intimacy so heavily. We reserve it for partners only, and platonic friends can only chit-chat and that's it. How can you tell people to be okay with being single while also telling them they can only get the basic human needs of physical touch from not being single?
”
”
Lane Moore (How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't)
“
The silence between us stretched out, but it wasn’t awkward. Sometimes there are people you can be quiet with, and you never feel the need to fill the gap with meaningless chit-chat.
”
”
Claudia Gray (Evernight (Evernight, #1))
“
When Charles Darwin was trying to decide whether he should propose to his cousin Emma Wedgwood, he got out a pencil and paper and weighed every possible consequence. In favor of marriage he listed children, companionship, and the 'charms of music and female chit-chat.' Against marriage he listed the 'terrible loss of time,' lack of freedom to go where he wished, the burden of visiting relatives, the expense and anxiety provoked by children, the concern that 'perhaps my wife won't like London,' and having less money to spend on books. Weighing one column against the other produced a narrow margin of victory, and at the bottom Darwin scrawled, 'Marry—Marry—Marry Q.E.D.' Quod erat demonstrandum, the mathematical sign-off that Darwin himself restated in English: 'It being proved necessary to Marry.
”
”
Brian Christian (Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions)
“
What more does one need than what is offered by the present moment? Once you have learnt how to dissolve in the present moment, and you are able to enjoy it, you will have no problem in disregarding the empty chit-chat of the Ego, the mind!
”
”
Frank Wanderer
“
And thus was born The Seal Cove Theoretical Society, devoted to chit-chat, observation, current events, gossip, philosophical debate, and the occasional profound speculation, and bound together by friendship and forgiveness, which we all need, even if we deny it.
”
”
S.W. Clemens (The Seal Cove Theoretical Society)
“
about to make, but the idea had faded. Not for the first time that day, she wished the hall outside her door hadn’t become the official gathering place for coworkers in search of gossip and idle chit chat. It wasn’t like her to lose focus so easily. Karen couldn’t afford to slow down,
”
”
Lynne M. Spreen
“
Birdle Burble
I went out of mind and then came to my senses
By meeting a magpie who mixed up his tenses,
Who muddled distinctions of nouns and of verbs,
And insisted that logic is bad for the birds.
With a poo-wee cluck and a chit, chit-chit;
The grammar and meaning don't matter a bit.
The stars in their courses have no destination;
The train of events will arrive at no station;
The inmost and ultimate Self of us all
Is dancing on nothing and having a ball.
So with a chat for chit and with tat for tit,
This will be that, and that will be It!
(poem for James Broughton)
”
”
Alan Watts
“
Find hard to talk to stranger. Terrible at chit-chat. Think people look at me funny then I start panic think have to be clever all of time. They not understand I artist, not entertainer! Magic of Bigfoot what happen when people not looking.
”
”
Graham Roumieu (Me Write Book: It Bigfoot Memoir)
“
Whenever Beatrice was forced into company, she’s often found herself overwhelmed by the sudden desperate urge to flee. She felt herself drowning in chit-chat groups and teacups, hungry to gulp down the air of solitude.
We all think our own problems are uniquely difficult. But the truth is. Everyone struggles. With something. That is. Unbearable. To them.
”
”
Alexandra Bell (The Winter Garden)
“
I frowned. “I didn’t know Clovians were allowed to have more than one wife.”
“We aren’t typical Clovians,” said the count.
You don’t say. “Care to elaborate?” I asked.
“No.” Silver light glinted in his eyes. Despite everything else I knew about him, his eyes were a marvel—large, mournful, pale light framed by darkness.
“Is Sourial married?” I asked.
“Why are you asking about him?” A blade of steel undercut in his tone.
“Just making conversation.”
“Sourial and I are unusual among our kind. We have no wives.”
“Will he be at the party, too?”
“Making conversation again, are you?” He murmured.
“Oh yes. My people call it chit-chatting.”
“It’s a terrible habit.”
“Some day, Count Saklas, you are going to have fun. And it is going to blow your mind.”
“I’d rather keep my mind intact.
”
”
C.N. Crawford (The Fallen (Hades Castle Trilogy, #1))
“
The news that she had gone of course now spread rapidly, and by lunch time Riseholme had made up its mind what to do, and that was hermetically to close its lips for ever on the subject of Lucia. You might think what you pleased, for it was a free country, but silence was best. But this counsel of perfection was not easy to practice next day when the evening paper came. There, for all the world to read were two quite long paragraphs, in "Five o'clock Chit-Chat," over the renowned signature of Hermione, entirely about Lucia and 25 Brompton Square, and there for all the world to see was the reproduction of one of her most elegant photographs, in which she gazed dreamily outwards and a little upwards, with her fingers still pressed on the last chord of (probably) the Moonlight Sonata. . . . She had come up, so Hermione told countless readers, from her Elizabethan country seat at Riseholme (where she was a neighbour of Miss Olga Bracely) and was settling for the season in the beautiful little house in Brompton Square, which was the freehold property of her husband, and had just come to him on the death of his aunt. It was a veritable treasure house of exquisite furniture, with a charming music-room where Lucia had given Hermione a cup of tea from her marvellous Worcester tea service. . . . (At this point Daisy, whose hands were trembling with passion, exclaimed in a loud and injured voice, "The very day she arrived!") Mrs. Lucas (one of the Warwickshire Smythes by birth) was, as all the world knew, a most accomplished musician and Shakespearean scholar, and had made Riseholme a centre of culture and art. But nobody would suspect the blue stocking in the brilliant, beautiful and witty hostess whose presence would lend an added gaiety to the London season.
”
”
E.F. Benson (Lucia in London (The Mapp & Lucia Novels, #3))
“
I can go an entire day without any socialisation, without a conversation with anyone. I wonder sometimes if I'm invisible. I feel like the old men and women who used to bother me by engaging in unnecessary chit-chat with the cashiers while I was stuck behind them, in a hurry, wanting to get on to the next place. When you don’t have a next place to go to, time slows down enormously. I feel myself noticing other people more, catching more eyes, or seeking out eye contact. I'm now ripe and ready for a conversation about anything with anyone; it would make my day if somebody would meet my eye, or if there was someone to talk to. But everyone is too busy, and that makes me feel invisible; and invisibility, contrary to what I believed before, lacks any sense of lightness and liberty. Instead it makes me feel heavy. And so I drag myself around, trying to convince myself that I don't feel heavy, invisible, bored and worthless, and that I am free. I do not convince myself well.
”
”
Cecelia Ahern (The Year I Met You)
“
We cannot make ourselves known to each other; we are not healed and forgiven by each other’s presence. With words as valueless as poker chips, we play games whose object it is to keep us from seeing each other’s cards. Chit-chat games in which “How are you?” means “Don’t tell me who you are,” and “I’m alone and scared” becomes “Fine thanks.” Games where the players create the illusion of being in the same room but where the reality of it is that each is alone inside a skin in that room, like bathyspheres at the bottom of the sea. Blind man’s buff games where everyone is blind.
”
”
Frederick Buechner (The Alphabet of Grace)
“
After my classes at Brooklyn College I would sometimes leave the train at Bergen Street to visit my mother. If she knew I was coming she’d make soda bread so warm and delicious it melted in the mouth as fast as the butter she slathered on it. She made tea in a teapot and couldn’t help sniffing at the idea of tea bags. I told her tea bags were just a convenience for people with busy lives and she said no one is so busy they can’t take time to make a decent cup of tea and if you are that busy you don’t deserve a decent cup of tea for what is it all about anyway? Are we put into this world to be busy or to chat over a nice cup of tea?
”
”
Frank McCourt ('Tis)
“
When Charles Darwin was trying to decide whether he should propose to his cousin Emma Wedgwood, he got out a pencil and paper and weighed every possible consequence. In favor of marriage he listed children, companionship, and the “charms of music & female chit-chat.” Against marriage he listed the “terrible loss of time,” lack of freedom to go where he wished, the burden of visiting relatives, the expense and anxiety provoked by children, the concern that “perhaps my wife won’t like London,” and having less money to spend on books. Weighing one column against the other produced a narrow margin of victory, and at the bottom Darwin scrawled, “Marry—Marry—Marry
”
”
Brian Christian (Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions)
“
Intellectual chit-chat is thus replaced by meaningful events that occur in the reality of the psyche. Hence, for the individual to enter seriously into the process of individuation in the way that has been outlined means a completely new and different orientation toward life. For scientists it also means a new and different scientific approach to outer facts. How this will work out in the field of human knowledge and in the social life of human beings cannot be predicted. But to me it seems certain that Jung’s discovery of the process of individuation is a fact that future generations will have to take into account if they want to avoid drifting into a stagnant or even regressive outlook.
”
”
C.G. Jung (Man and His Symbols)
“
And at the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney on Sixty Minutes, have you ever wondered why we say fiddle-faddle and not faddle- fiddle? Why is it ping-pong and pitter-patter rather than pong-ping and patter-pitter? Why dribs and drabs, rather than vice versa? Why can't a kitchen be span and spic? Whence riff-raff, mish-mash, flim-flam, chit-chat, tit for tat, knick-knack, zig-zag, sing-song, ding-dong, King Kong, criss-cross, shilly-shally, see-saw, hee-haw, flip-flop, hippity-hop, tick-tock, tic-tac-toe, eeny-meeny-miney-moe, bric-a-brac, clickety-clack, hickory-dickory-dock, kit and kaboodle, and bibbity-bobbity-boo? The answer is that the vowels for which the tongue is high and in the front always come before the vowels for which the tongue is low and in the back.
”
”
Steven Pinker (The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language)
“
Honestly, I’m kind of happy having permission to dive right into more interesting territory because I have a very real allergy to small talk. I don’t want to discuss jobs and the weather and how people’s commutes are. Introverts tend to hate chit-chat (it’s an awkward social interaction, but also meaningless and unrewarding), but this kind of enriching conversation that Mark is referring to is incredibly rare and hard to come by, something I had already found out on the streets of London.
We’re told that we can engineer conversations to be more emotional and interesting by understanding that we all have a ‘Surface Self’ and a ‘Deep Self’. The Surface Self talks about the weather, facts, what we had for dinner, our plans for the weekend. The Deep Self talks about what these these actually mean to us and how we feel about them.
”
”
Jessica Pan (Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously)
“
I end up leaning on my sword for a moment, after exerting almost the last of my energy to take down one of the weakest Vampyres. Must be nice to be a Van Helsing, who can carry on idle chit-chat, while fighting like it’s a day job.
“I told you to feed more often—”
“I don’t want to hear ‘I told you so’s’ right now, you smug prat. I want you to kiss me,” I tell him.
“I’ll fucking die first,” he assures me, quickly knocking the head off the Vampyre, who damn near crept up on me.
After Vance does some fancy sword skills, clearly showing off, five Vampyres lose their head, leaving only two.
I stick behind Vance, shamelessly using the sword-happy Van Helsing as a shield.
“Should we discuss the ghost fanning herself right now?” I ask, as Emily slides up next to us, moving with us toward the remaining Vampyres.
“Pssst,” the ghost stage whispers. “The threat’s over. You can be cool again.”
I step out from behind Vance, adjust my jacket, and ignore the fucking ghost who thinks I have pride or something.
”
”
Kristy Cunning (Gypsy Truths (All the Pretty Monsters, #6))
“
Icelandic Language
In this language, no industrial revolution;
no pasteurized milk; no oxygen, no telephone;
only sheep, fish, horses, water falling.
The middle class can hardly speak it.
In this language, no flush toilet; you stumble
through dark and rain with a handful of rags.
The door groans; the old smell comes
up from under the earth to meet you.
But this language believes in ghosts;
chairs rock by themselves under the lamp; horses
neigh inside an empty gully, nothing
at the bottom but moonlight and black rocks.
The woman with marble hands whispers
this language to you in your sleep; faces
come to the window and sing rhymes; old ladies
wind long hair, hum, tat, fold jam inside pancakes.
In this language, you can't chit-chat
holding a highball in your hand, can't
even be polite. Once the sentence starts its course,
all your grief and failure come clear at last.
Old inflections move from case to case,
gender to gender, softening consonants, darkening
vowels, till they sound like the sea moving
icebergs back and forth in its mouth.
”
”
Bill Holm
“
Hit them with a book and suddenly, the whole world goes quiet. But there was so much chit chat before..... So, what happened? The truth usually silences lies.
”
”
Niedria Dionne Kenny (The Affidavit of Niedria Dionne Kenny)
“
and many tough life choices, Gwen must decide who or what she will become. Fleet Cadet or Civilian? Friend or lover? Average or extraordinary? Can she make new friends? Can she trust the old ones, such as Logan Sangre, her sexy high school crush and an Earth special operative? Time and time again, Gwen’s uncanny ability to come up with the best answer in a crisis saves her life and others. And now, her unique Logos voice makes her an extremely valuable commodity to the Atlanteans—so much so that her enigmatic commanding officer Aeson Kassiopei, who is also the Imperial Prince of Atlantis, has taken an increasingly personal interest in her. Before the end of the journey, Gwen must convince him that she has what it takes to compete in the deadly Games of the Atlantis Grail. It’s becoming apparent—the life of her family and all of Earth depends on it. COMPETE is the second book in The Atlantis Grail series. Don’t miss another book by Vera Nazarian! Subscribe to the mailing list to be notified when the next books by Vera Nazarian are available. We promise not to spam you or chit-chat, only make occasional book release announcements.
”
”
Vera Nazarian (Compete (The Atlantis Grail, #2))
“
When Charles Darwin was trying to decide whether he should propose to his cousin Emma Wedgwood, he got out a pencil and paper and weighed every possible consequence. In favor of marriage he listed children, companionship, and the “charms of music & female chit-chat.” Against marriage he listed the “terrible loss of time,” lack of freedom to go where he wished, the burden of visiting relatives, the expense and anxiety provoked by children, the concern that “perhaps my wife won’t like London,” and having less money to spend on books. Weighing
”
”
Brian Christian (Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions)
“
I don't want to call Jess, because we have bigger fish to fry than to chit-chat about my issues. I'm so upset with her right now that fried fish doesn't even sound good to me. Although once in Calabria, William and I had the most perfect fried sardines, silvery melt-in-your-mouth crisp and not at all fishy. God, what I would do to have a platter of them, along with a helping of 'nduja, the region's famously spicy pepperoncini salami spread, smeared across a fresh loaf of crusty bread. And an earthen pitcher of vino rosso, made by the contadini locali.
”
”
Jenny Gardiner (Slim to None)
Juju's Pearls (Momsie Popsie Diary: Tea Time Chit Chat on Living Life)
“
Do you know there is a circle in hell where I will probably end up which is one huge supermarket? The shopping trolleys always go sideways, the children always scream, I always have at least one item of shopping which doesn’t have the bar code on it and so I wait and wait until someone goes and finds one with the bar code and the people in the lengthening crowd behind me hate me. Or when I get to the check-out at the Express Lane, Nine Items Only, three people in front of me have at least twenty items and I haven’t the courage to protest. Or the woman at the till who knows everyone in the line except me indulges in long and happy chit-chat and when it gets to me she decides to change the roll of paper in the till. Or the woman in front of me watches all her groceries sliding along and stares at them without packing them, and then she slowly takes out her cheque-book and slowly proceeds to write a cheque and then insists on carefully packing her plastic shopping bags according to type of grocery. And then, when it’s all over and I get to the revolving doors and see daylight outside, I suddenly find myself back at the beginning to the whole process.
”
”
M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (Agatha Raisin, #7))
“
MY LOVE,
The day Prometheus breathed life into the new me, was the day you arrived in a little box. A shiny, futuristic black box, Pandora's box, despite my doubts I couldn't help but open it to finally meet you. Doubts, because I was happy with who I was, with who I saw looking at me through the eyes of others I presented myself to in everyday life. But I was seduced by the worlds that were promised to me if I let you into my life, who I would be with you in my pocket.
As soon as the lid came off and I swiped my fingers over your radiant surface for the first time, the world and I were bursting at the seams. What a creation we were together, to what sized we grew! My brain an encyclopedia, my body an unerring compass, my eyes and ears reaching infinitely with you as an extension of myself. Through you, I, the cyborg, could enter bewilderingly virtual spaces in which I was presently absent, meanwhile absently present in the material world of boring train rides, waiting lines, and mindless chit chats with others. I felt invincible, transformed into a citizen of the world because of you, an intellectual of unimaginable proportions for the vast sea of knowledge you allowed me to surf on, a public speaker and influencer of significance because my words and visual snippets of my days could be launched into the world with the flick of a finger, likes enticing and confirming me. How intoxicating! How wonderfully, pleasantly, intoxicating!
But I can't help but sometimes lie awake at night, my internal clock slowing down with your seductive blue light illuminating my face with 2, 457, 600 (1920×1080) LED suns. In those moments, as my eyes are captivated by your glow, I can't help thinking about the time before you arrived, and how I sometimes miss my low definition self. You were always there, sometimes it feels like we are in fact one — finally reunited with my other Plato's half, fused into not a circle but a perfect black rectangle. Through your eyes I see the world and myself in Ultra-HD, my pixel density has never been so high.
But you are sometimes vicious, my dear — a viper, a temptress, when then again with sweet codes you reflect my most beautiful self, and I cannot help but love me through your gaze, then again with suffocating algorithms you fragment my self and blow it up to grotesque self-distortions, hurling me into an endless me-loop, that eventually disgusts and alienates me. In those moments you are a distorting mirror, a frightening black box, a black hole that swallows my attention in ways I can't see through. I see my old self disappearing in the vague, dark reflection of myself, with double chin and dull eyes, which I sometimes catch in your black glass when your suns stop dazzling me for a split second. And I can't help but wonder if my 'self' in times of its digital recombination, in which the 'I' is a fragmented multitude of pixels that never fully touch at their sides, a simulacrum, maybe has lost some of its aura.
But in the morning all is forgotten, my love, all is well. As soon as we merge back into one, as soon as I, panicked, reach for my pocket on the train, only to discover with a glow of relief that you were there after all, I can't imagine an "I" without you. Artificial by nature my self resides within your screen, I would be lost without you.
”
”
Elize de Mul
“
What the hell are we doing in this abomination of a rat's nest?
We're talking, having the banter, the auld chit-chat and chewing the fat and all that. Shooting the breeze and anything else that may come our way. Bang-bang.
”
”
Darren Colgan (The Man with One Boot)
“
He for a considerable time used to frequent the Green Room, and seemed to take delight in dissipating his gloom, by mixing in the sprightly chit-chat of the motley circle then to be found there. Mr. David Hume related to me from Mr. Garrick, that Johnson at last denied himself this amusement, from considerations of rigid virtue; saying, ‘I’ll come no more behind your scenes, David; for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities.
”
”
Samuel Johnson (Complete Works of Samuel Johnson)
“
Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you talk like a geek?” She grinned at him and Einstein ducked his head, pleased at her mention of cute. “Enough chit-chat, charming. Time for action. You promised the boss you’d probe me.
”
”
Eve Langlais (B785 (Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #3))
“
So you’re a vampire. I hate vampires!” the wolf growled viciously. “Well isn’t that a surprise,” Emily remarked, her voice tinted with sarcasm. “Enough with the chit-chat.” “Okay, fine by me, you egotistical bitch.
”
”
Catherine Gardiner (Forgotten (In the Shadows, #1))
“
Overheard at Wendy's
"See, I will make you into a threshing tool, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will flail the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff."
"Enough with the chit chat, Isaiah, Jr. Just shut up and finish your fries.
”
”
Beryl Dov
“
And then I got it. Dan didn’t need me to bake cakes, or entertain his uncle, or dress up, or field his mother’s expectations, or make his sisters feel important, or chit-chat nicely to his relations. He just needed me to be there. Because when I was with him, it made it easier for him to be with his family. To be able to point across a room and say, “She’s with me,” to his Uncle Patrick, his mother, his cousins, but most important, to himself.
”
”
Kate Kerrigan (The Perfect Marriage: A moving novel of love and marriage)
“
As the Athenians to the Pnyx, the antique Romans to the Campus Martius, or our Nordic ancestors to the All-Thing, so the folk of Tilling flocked to the High Street for extempore parliament.
”
”
Tom Holt (Lucia Triumphant (Lucia, #8))
“
during journey if we chit chat wid some one , we dont know wen we reached the destination ,
similarly we shoud focus on satisfaction, happiness in our work , rather than focusing a long term goal
”
”
akshay jain
“
Desiree and I became friends. We bonded over our shared love of quiet and solitude. We spent time together without a lot of chit-chat and noise. I never asked what led her to appreciate the quiet and she never asked me; it just worked for us. We were quiet without being alone.
”
”
Amanda Peters (The Berry Pickers)
“
As a young man, the Count had prided himself on being one step ahead. The timely appearance, the apt expression, the anticipation of a need, to the Count these had been the very hallmarks of the well-bred man. But under the circumstances, he discovered that being a step behind had merits of its own. For one, it was so much more relaxing. To be a step ahead in matters of romance requires constant vigilance. If one hopes to make a successful advance, one must be mindful of every utterance, attend to every gesture, and take note of every look. In other words, to be a step ahead in romance is exhausting. But to be a step behind? To be seduced? Why, that was a matter of leaning back in one’s chair, sipping one’s wine, and responding to a query with the very first thought that has popped into one’s head. And yet, paradoxically, if being a step behind was more relaxing than being a step ahead, it was also more exciting. From his relaxed position, the one-step-behinder imagines that his evening with a new acquaintance will transpire like any other—with a little chit, a little chat, and a friendly goodnight at the door. But halfway through dinner there is an unexpected compliment and an accidental brushing of fingers against one’s hand; there is a tender admission and a self-effacing laugh; then suddenly a kiss.
”
”
Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow)
“
A distraction can teach younger children how to be well behaved. Focus on the other hand can do same for older children. When younger children are fussy and acting in ways that we do not like, distractions can give them something else to think about and get them to change their behaviour. A young child crying...distract him. Same with when they are not doing so well in school sef, find a distraction that can teach them what they ordinarily weren't learning. From ages 0 to 7 you can't ALWAYS be too serious with a child. That sweet that you gave a 3 year old crying that got him to stop was just a distraction from the real issue that caused him to cry. That toy with which they "play and count with" is just a distraction from the seriousness of counting say without a toy. As they grow older however, distractions do the opposite... They get a child to lose CONCENTRATION. And forget what matters. That's understandable, right? The less distraction the better, now. Focus is more like it. Also, focus is learnt. Children aren't born with FOCUS or ability to pay attention. At times, when a child performs below our expectations in school, it's because they haven't learnt how to focus. How to focus is serious business, too. It's not just about doing one thing at a time, it's about doing that thing right ONE TIME. EVERY opportunity is perfect to teach a child to learn how to focus. On the dinning table...while they eat let them eat only, no chit chat. Let them chew slowly so they can focus on HOW THE FOOD tastes. When they talk, let them slow down and think as they talk. Teach them to be PRESENT in the EVERY MOMENT. In the toilet even, many kids spend too long there cos, they are THINKING AND POOING. Yes, I know many adults who find inspiration in the toilet, but certainly not a way to train a child, believe me. If they deliberately went in there to think, that's a different matter , in fact that's what adults who think in there do. They deliberately choose to THINK, there. Focus helps with fostering the GROWTH MINDSET even. And helps with self-confidence. If a child is not confident, he most likely lacks the ability to focus 100%. Focus is beyond paying attention, parents. Focus is more about SETTING A goal and reaching that GOAL.
”
”
Asuni LadyZeal
“
As an added benefit, having a student stand up and address the room will quickly bring all other distracted chit-chat to an end, since people rarely want to be rude to their peers.
”
”
Rob Fitzpatrick (The Workshop Survival Guide: How to design and teach educational workshops that work every time)
“
We didn’t do the daily chit chat. We didn’t go out on dates or do cutesy things. We spent time at my house or his that ended in mind-blowing sex then went our separate ways.
”
”
K.C. Mills (Shadows and Whispers (The Collective Book 1))
“
You stopped speaking and only silence replied. But those words, those thousands, those millions of words that dried up in your throat, the inconsequential chit-chat, the cries of joy, the words of love, the silly laughter, just when will you find them again?
Now you live in dread of silence. But are you not the most silent of all?
”
”
Georges Perec (Un homme qui dort)
“
Scott,” she said, smiling even as she tried to look severe, “this is what people do—they move to a new house, they meet the neighbors. They host parties and serve hamburgers and fill drinks and chit-chat.” Scott grinned. “All right. For you? Entertaining hordes of people I barely know sounds like a great idea.
”
”
Bradeigh Godfrey (The Followers)
“
With his school years behind him, von Neumann took the train to Berlin with his father in September 1921 to begin the arduous programme of study that had been agreed. A passenger sharing their carriage, having learned a little about his interests, looked to engage the youngster in some friendly chit-chat: ‘I suppose you are coming to Berlin to learn mathematics.’ ‘No,’ von Neumann replied, ‘I already know mathematics. I am coming to learn chemistry.
”
”
Ananyo Bhattacharya (The Man from the Future: The Visionary Ideas of John von Neumann)
“
He'd been a regular everywhere, and made lots of friends, but only the kind he ran into at other parties, who were glad to chit-chat in a group setting, but would never spare you individual time, and would be sad for maybe 5 seconds if they heard you'd been tortured to death. Which was to say, online friends.
”
”
Tony Tulathimutte (Private Citizens)
“
Perhaps Brainbusters is still within reach. Maybe I could even be team-mates with Jake. If I have to. After the judging is complete everyone gathers round the front desk in the science lab to hear who the winners are. As I go over I catch Mrs Chen’s eye and she gives me a HUGE grin. A sign? Once again I feel quietly confident. Brainbusters, here I come! Then Mrs De Souza arrives to announce the winners. I am bursting to hear my name. She begins with some chit-chat about how it’s not the winning that’s important, it’s the taking part. She goes on to say that the standard is very high in this competition and that it is a shame there can only
”
”
Konnie Huq (Cookie! (Book 1): Cookie and the Most Annoying Boy in the World)
“
And if they are to live up to their spiritual experiences, then they will have to grow and develop. They will have to start the developmental unfolding, the holarchical expansion, the actual inhabiting of the expanding spheres of consciousness. Their center of gravity has to shift—to transform—to these deeper or higher spheres of consciousness; it does no good to merely “idealize” them in theoretical chit-chat and talking religion
”
”
Ken Wilber (A Brief History of Everything)
“
The conversation can be serious, too, taking on the form of a grave philosophical discourse as the characters take turns to expound their views of life. When Joe finally comes face to face with his elusive prey, Stern, the chit chat gives way to pure oratory: Revolution, said Stern. We can’t even comprehend what it is, not what it means or what it suggests. We pretend it means total change but it’s much more than that, so vastly more complex, and yes, so much simpler too. It’s not just the total change from night to day as our earth spins in its revolutions around a minor star. It’s also our little star revolving around its own unknowable center and so with all the stars in their billions, and so with the galaxies and the universe itself. Change revolves and truly there is nothing but revolution. All movement is revolution and so is time, and although those laws are impossibly complex and beyond us, their result is simple. For us, very simple. And yet, this is where Whittemore’s great strength comes in: just as we are beginning to accept that this is more a philosophical treatise than a spy story, a pleasant meta-fiction, Whittemore suddenly pulls the strings taut with a dramatic piece of action worthy of Le Carré (more comparisons).
”
”
Edward Whittemore (Nile Shadows (The Jerusalem Quartet, #3))
“
head sadly. ‘Way too late.’ Then the conversation drifted into generalised, Sunday social chit-chat that was pleasant and comfortable. Thirty minutes later, Clara looked at her watch. ‘It doesn’t look like she is coming. Perhaps we should ring her?’ Adam shrugged, and then reached for his phone, dialled her number, waited a few seconds, closed it and put it away. ‘Straight to an answering service.’ I got up and removed lids and covers from the plates and dishes I had arranged on a side table. ‘I think we’ll go ahead. Ann may have been caught up in something she couldn’t get out of, you know. These things happen.’ Nobody argued the unlikelihood of this. She had changed her mind. Simple as that. We got on with lunch without further mention of her, everyone helping themselves from the array of dishes I had ordered. ‘This is an amazing spread, Jake,’ Jane said, spooning some couscous on to her plate. ‘I love baked salmon.’ ‘Absolutely delicious,’ Clara agreed, ‘you’ve gone to so much trouble.’ ‘It’s no trouble, Clara,’ I told her laughing, ‘Everything was done for me, delivered this morning. The only trouble I had was about the jug.’ Expectant eyes rose from the food, and looked at me. ‘The jug?’ Jane asked. So, I told them, in exaggerated detail, the story of my careering around the city that morning looking for a jug.
”
”
Valerie Keogh (Exit Five from Charing Cross)
“
Claire reads the tagline on the newsfeed detailing some kind of murder investigation.
“The victim was strangled in her bedroom with friends just outside her door. There appears to be evidence of indignity to the body and may be the work of a serial killer. Police are considering a link to previous cases where the death has been made to look accidental or natural. This is the first case where…”
Claire stops to pay closer attention, but the news switches to some other story. Claire quickly moves over to the television and starts switching channels to find more on the story she just heard. There is nothing. What is going on? She wonders. The class resumes in chit-chat, loud whispers, and long-faces.
”
”
Peter J. Perry (Origen: A True Story Of Evil)
“
Now, Katy," said Rose, seating herself in "Chit," "pull up 'Chat' and let us begin.
”
”
Susan Coolidge (What Katy Did Next)
“
It took years for me to properly train Kate, to curb the agent’s tendencies for mindless chit-chat and pleasantries. In the beginning, she was more resistant to my expectations, but the first advance, the first bestseller, the first commission—that made her more pliable. It’s amazing what money will do to a person, the level of control it can establish. It’s made Kate my monkey. It made Simon my pet—the sort who doesn’t clean up his messes, the sort who marks his territory, the sort who bares his teeth and will attack your child if you don’t keep him on a tight enough leash.
”
”
Alessandra Torre (The Ghostwriter)
“
Slanting sun rays entering through the window panes like an uninvited guest, chit chat of the neighbourhood aunties complaining about their maids, traffic scratching out its way with noisy horns, vegetable vendors, loud uncles, ironworkers and many other unrecognizable sounds; enough reasons to wake me up amidst the Chandni Chowk’s volant lifestyle.
”
”
Misbah Khan (Blanks & Blues)