---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The conversation at dinner hadn't been…"
description: "\"“The conversation at dinner hadn't been successful either; it bore the marks of an old married couple who had very little left to say to each other.”\" ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg"
---

#  The conversation at dinner hadn't been successful either…

![“The conversation at dinner hadn't been successful either; it bore the marks of an old married couple who had very little left to say to each other.” quote by Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg)

> ““The conversation at dinner hadn't been successful either; it bore the marks of an old married couple who had very little left to say to each other.””

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Illustrates a dinner conversation that has become stale, showing how long‑term relationships can lose vitality and meaningful dialogue.

**In simple terms:** Couples may lose interesting things after years.

Key Takeaway

Revitalize communication in long‑term relationships.

Themes

relationships communication marriage stagnation humor

Mood

thoughtful hopeful

Type

observational insightful

When to use this quote

- marriage counseling
- date nights
- active listening

Key Concepts

dialogue decay emotional distance routine

Questions to Reflect On

- What topics can reignite meaningful conversation?
- How can couples avoid conversational complacency?

A Different Perspective

Changing deep habits takes effort and vulnerability.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Married Couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/married-couple/)

## Related quotes

> [Listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remus-lupin/listen-to-you-two-quarrelling-like-an-old-married-couple/)

[Remus Lupin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remus-lupin/)

> [“At night we would lie down and snuggle like an old married couple.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/at-night-we-would-lie-down-and-snuggle-like-an-old-married-couple/)

[Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/)

> [We do seem to bicker and bicker. Sometimes I feel we're like an old married couple, who think occasionally of murdering each other -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-macshane/we-do-seem-to-bicker-and-bicker-sometimes-i-feel-we-re-like-an-old/)

Denis MacShane

> [“they no longer felt like newlyweds, and even less like belated lovers. It was as if they had leapt over the arduous calvary of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/they-no-longer-felt-like-newlyweds-and-even-less-like-belated-lovers/)

[Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [“I thought I would stand myself a little dinner. I hadn't quite enough sense to know that what I really wanted was human companions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/i-thought-i-would-stand-myself-a-little-dinner-i-hadn-t-quite-enough/)

[Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/)

> [He is clearly bookish. I did not follow a single word of their conversation at dinner last night, not one jot of it. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carriger/he-is-clearly-bookish-i-did-not-follow-a-single-word-of-their/)

[Gail Carriger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carriger/)

> [“it was a point of good manners not to sit with a clique of the same friends all the time, and it meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/it-was-a-point-of-good-manners-not-to-sit-with-a-clique-of-the-same/)

[Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/)

> [“I just want somebody I can have a decent conversation with over dinner.” —Tom Hanks, Sleepless in Seattle (1993)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-bennett/i-just-want-somebody-i-can-have-a-decent-conversation-with-over/)

[Jenn Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-bennett/)

> [I like something simple and traditional, like dinner and a movie. The best way to get to know someone is to have a conversation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-durant/i-like-something-simple-and-traditional-like-dinner-and-a-movie-the/)

[Kevin Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-durant/)

> [This conversation with the audience has been going on since, what, '72, '73... Sometimes it's like a conversation after dinner with friends. You're in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-van-zandt/this-conversation-with-the-audience-has-been-going-on-since-what-72/)

[Steven Van Zandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-van-zandt/)

> [Old married people look so much alike that they have the same number of hairs in their ears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/old-married-people-look-so-much-alike-that-they-have-the-same-number/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [“As I looked and looked, the living face became visible in the dead, the young in the old. This is what must happen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/as-i-looked-and-looked-the-living-face-became-visible-in-the-dead-the/)

[Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/)

> [I used to pretend like I was 27 years old and about to get married and unsure if this was the right guy for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-spielberg/i-used-to-pretend-like-i-was-27-years-old-and-about-to-get-married/)

[Sasha Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-spielberg/)

> [“So they became friends, the way old married couples often do, and enjoyed the tender loyalty that awaits the lucky on the other side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/so-they-became-friends-the-way-old-married-couples-often-do-and/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [My ambition when I was four years old was to be married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyanka-chopra/my-ambition-when-i-was-four-years-old-was-to-be-married/)

[Priyanka Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyanka-chopra/)

## More by Steve Martin

> [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [“It was easy to be great. Every entertainer has a night when everything is clicking. These nights are accidental and statistical: Like lucky cards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/it-was-easy-to-be-great-every-entertainer-has-a-night-when-everything/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/i-like-a-woman-with-a-head-on-her-shoulders-i-hate-necks/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [“And after his unparsable response, including a passage where he said he was 'blurring the boundaries between a thing and thought,' she said, 'Thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/and-after-his-unparsable-response-including-a-passage-where-he-said/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [I have no fear, no fear at all. I wake up, and I have no fear. I go to bed without fear. Fear, fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/i-have-no-fear-no-fear-at-all-i-wake-up-and-i-have-no-fear-i-go-to/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [“Be undeniably good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/be-undeniably-good/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [When I finally retire, I just want to go away so no one has to listen to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/when-i-finally-retire-i-just-want-to-go-away-so-no-one-has-to-listen/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [Only then does he realize what he has done to Mirabelle, how wanting a square inch of her and not all of her has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/only-then-does-he-realize-what-he-has-done-to-mirabelle-how-wanting-a/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [“Lacey was just as happy alone as with company. When she was alone, she was potential; with others she was realized. Alone, she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/lacey-was-just-as-happy-alone-as-with-company-when-she-was-alone-she/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [At first I had no skills in writing comedy. I didn't know what a joke was, but, as someone once told me, your emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/at-first-i-had-no-skills-in-writing-comedy-i-didn-t-know-what-a-joke/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [You cannot make your opportunities concur with the opportunities of people whose incomes are ten times greater than yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/you-cannot-make-your-opportunities-concur-with-the-opportunities-of/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [The lure in art collecting and its financial rewards, not counting for a moment its aesthetic, cultural and intellectual rewards, is like the trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-lure-in-art-collecting-and-its-financial-rewards-not-counting-for/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [My most persistent memory of stand - up is of my mouth being in the present and my mind being in the future: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/my-most-persistent-memory-of-stand-up-is-of-my-mouth-being-in-the/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [What I mean is that none of my talents had a - what's that great word - rubric. A singer, an actor, a dancer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/what-i-mean-is-that-none-of-my-talents-had-a-what-s-that-great-word/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

[Explore all 453 Steve Martin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

## More Communication quotes

> [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/)

[Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/)

> [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/)

[John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/)

> [We should have a conversation when we hang up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/we-should-have-a-conversation-when-we-hang-up/)

[Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/)

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/)

[Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/)

> [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/)

[Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/)

> [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/)

[Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/)

> [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/)

[Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/)

> [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/)

[Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/)

> [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/)

[Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/)

> [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. I've been in a public bathroom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-reddy/i-ve-been-in-a-serious-conversation-with-one-of-my-children-and-a-fan/)

[Helen Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-reddy/)

> [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/)

[Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/)

> [Disability, in general, hasn't been included in the conversation about inclusivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-winston-george/disability-in-general-hasn-t-been-included-in-the-conversation-about/)

[Jason Winston George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-winston-george/)

> [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/)

Yoram Wind

> [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/)

[Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/)

[Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“The conversation at dinner hadn't been successful either; it bore the marks of an old married couple who had very little left to say to each other.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Steve Martin"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-successful-either-it-bore-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Communication"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-successful-either-it-bore-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/491/steve-martin-593_communication_the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-s_1957807.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The conversation at dinner hadn't been successful either; it bore the marks of an old married couple who had…” — Steve Martin",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Steve Martin",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“The conversation at dinner hadn't been...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-successful-either-it-bore-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-conversation-at-dinner-hadn-t-been-successful-either-it-bore-the/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
