Maira Kalman

This map for me is the gold standard of knowledge.

Knowledge as imagination, knowledge as humor, knowledge as not giving a damn what the correct answer is to anything ever.

Sarah did not speak that much.

She was a few words, and we really listened to her.

And what are the obvious assets of not speaking?

So many.

no worries about repeating yourself or boring others or boring yourself or being misunderstood, no regrets of having said something inconsiderate or too considerate or too banal or too provocative or just plain stupid and altogether insufferable.

That is what happens when we speak.

It is inevitable.

No justification at all for saying much of what we say.

And if we examine this notion to its ultimate conclusion, obviously the answer is no more dinner parties.

Wait, you say, none at all?

What if the Tolstoys invite me, who are pictured here?

Sure, but have you hung out with the Tolstoy's?

Or what if Antony and Cleopatra invite me?

Should I attend?

OK, I say, but at your own peril.

You know what happened to them.

On the other hand, if you are invited, and let's just say it's really lovely to be invited, you never know what you're going to see that will be a painting or hear that might be a story, some fragment, some gesture, an image of a dog sitting on a green chair in front of radishes and flowers.

And let's not forget connectedness, congeniality, conviviality, camaraderie.