"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." -Voltaire

There, I have found it. The quote that all of you have been looking for to tell me to shut the hell up. Ever hear of Scheherazade? She was chosen to be the newest wife of the Shah of Persia, a man notorious for having his wives executed when they no longer pleased him. So upon the first night of their marriage Scheherazade began to tell her husband a story. She weaved an intricate tale and then would bring it to the climax..... and yawn and say in that breathy voice that only a woman can do that she was tired. "I'll finish the story tomarrow night." And the Shah was so intrigued that she lived every day until she could finish the story. Thus began the 1,001 Arabian Nights.

Another side of this is the human capacity for imagination. Imagination is the key thing that sets us appart from animals. Even the smartest animals only can see what is and remember a little of what was. They have no idea of what might be. A man has only to think of what could be and, like as not, it is. Even with small things, the human brain can decieve itself or induce such highs and lows that the truth inevitably falls far short. The old adage that the "forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest" is not because we want it more when we can't have it. It says that we make it better than it ever could be. Everyone has day-dreams and only very rarely does reality surpass them. Conversley, who has not dreamed night-mares that had them wake to a cold sweat they were so convinced. Tell all and the truth is boring compared to even the with-holding of the most sparce details. Describe someone and forget to mention the exact color of their skin or the perfect pitch of their laugh, and your audience will put in exactly what they want to see, or else will revel in the mystique of the veiled details.

I guess that it is impossible to cover all details of a person. Even a young child has a unique perspective on every experience that makes them infinately interesting. But still, with some people you can brush over a number of conversations, never hitting details, and it will seem that any further conversation is useless. The same way, talking of the same thing over and over for hours and not saying anything new can be just as tedious. I remember not this Thanksgiving but the previous one my cousin was talking to Megan about choosing and applying to colleges. He made his point in the first 15 minutes that cost should not be a major factor. But over the next three hours he and she belabored the point and beat it silly. The rest of us began to crack up and laugh with them at his chronic use of the phrase, "What I'm really trying to say is." Not that he was boring, but to tell everything, still, is a sure way to lose your following. It is a pit that I shall have to begin to avoid.