She must know all the needs of a rational being
Be skilled to keep counsel, to comfort, to coax;
And, above all else, be accomplished at seeing
My jokes.
Owen Seaman
Orion's Cold Fire
All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!
If husbands could realize what large returns of profit may be gotten out of a wife by a small word of praise paid over the counter when the market is just right, they would bring matters around the way they wish them much oftener than they usually do. Arguments are unsafe with wives, because they examine them; but they do not examine compliments. One can pass upon a wife a compliment that is three-fourths base
Mark Twain