Sarah Orne Jewett Past Quotations

Conversation's got to have some root in the past, or else you've got to explain every remark you make, an' it wears a person out.

It does seem so pleasant to talk with an old acquaintance who knows what you know. I see so many new folks nowadays who seem to have neither past nor future. Conversation has got to have some root in the past, or else you have got to explain every remark you make, and it wears a person out.