The pith of conversation does not consist in exhibiting your own superior knowledge on matters of small consequence, but in enlarging, improving, and correcting the information you possess, by the authority of others.
Sir Walter Scott
Orion's Cold Fire
All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!
He had a good memory, and a tongue hung in the middle. This a combination which gives immortality to conversation.
– Mark Twain, Roughing It