I can get a better grasp of what is going on in the world from one good Washington dinner party than from all the background information NBC piles on my desk.
I mean, I can cook, but I'd get very nervous having my food being judged by dinner guests.
The irrational may be attractive in the abstract, but not in cab drives, dinner guests, or elderly relatives.
Cold soup is a very tricky thing and it is a rare hostess who can carry it off. More often than not the dinner guest is left with the impression that had he only come a little earlier he could have gotten it while it was still hot.
Paper should be edible, nutritious. Inks used for printing or writing should have delicious flavors. Magazines or newspapers read at breakfast should be eaten for lunch. Instead of throwing one's mail in the waste-basket, it should be saved for the dinner guests.
Even today, well-brought-up English girls are taught by their mothers to boil all veggies for at least a month and a half, just in case one of the dinner guests turns up without his teeth.
A dinner invitation, once accepted, is a sacred obligation. If you die before the dinner takes place, your executor must attend.