--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Somebody once said that good conversation…" description: "\"“Somebody once said that good conversation should be like a tennis match, with each player gracefully sending the ball back across the net; instead, mo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/sydney-j-harris-1578_communication_somebody-once-said-that-good-conversatio_1312177.jpg" --- # Somebody once said that good conversation should be like a… ![“Somebody once said that good conversation should be like a tennis match, with each player gracefully sending the ball back across the net; instead, most conversation is like a golf game, with each player stroking only his own ball, and waiting impatiently for the other to finish.” quote by Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/sydney-j-harris-1578_communication_somebody-once-said-that-good-conversatio_1312177.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/sydney-j-harris-1578_communication_somebody-once-said-that-good-conversatio_1312177.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/sydney-j-harris-1578_communication_somebody-once-said-that-good-conversatio_1312177.jpg) > ““Somebody once said that good conversation should be like a tennis match, with each player gracefully sending the ball back across the net; instead, most conversation is like a golf game, with each player stroking only his own ball, and waiting impatiently for the other to finish.”” [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Good dialogue should be a dynamic, responsive exchange, not a solitary monologue. **In simple terms:** Conversation needs give‑and‑take. Key Takeaway Practice active listening. Themes communication dialogue collaboration Mood encouraging analytical Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - team meetings - friendship talks - online forums - teaching sessions Key Concepts reciprocity engagement social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage others to contribute? - What habits make you a better conversational partner? A Different Perspective People often dominate conversations unintentionally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Golf game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/golf-game/) [Good conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-conversation/) ## Related quotes > [Conversation is much like a tennis game except that in tennis you try to put the ball in the most difficult position for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margery-wilson/conversation-is-much-like-a-tennis-game-except-that-in-tennis-you-try/) [Margery Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margery-wilson/) > [Ah, good conversation - there's nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/ah-good-conversation-there-s-nothing-like-it-is-there-the-air-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [We can get so much out of golf. I know I have, and I'd like to see the same for you. Golf is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-knudson/we-can-get-so-much-out-of-golf-i-know-i-have-and-i-d-like-to-see-the/) George Knudson > [“life is like golf game , Hole after hole”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakaria-chidmi/life-is-like-golf-game-hole-after-hole/) Zakaria Chidmi > [I like running my Super Late Models here and there and there are times when you go to those events and they are for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-busch/i-like-running-my-super-late-models-here-and-there-and-there-are/) [Kyle Busch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-busch/) > [After the abrupt death of my mother, Jane, on Sept. 5, 1991, of a disease called amyloidosis, my dad took up golf at 57.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rushin/after-the-abrupt-death-of-my-mother-jane-on-sept-5-1991-of-a-disease/) [Steve Rushin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-rushin/) > [“Their conversation is like a gently wicked dance: sound meets sound, curtsies, shimmies, and retires. Another sound enters but is upstaged by still another:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/their-conversation-is-like-a-gently-wicked-dance-sound-meets-sound/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Give me good books, good conversations, and my Trek Y-Foil, and I shall want for nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-plimpton/give-me-good-books-good-conversations-and-my-trek-y-foil-and-i-shall/) [George Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-plimpton/) > [Good writing is good conversation, only more so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/good-writing-is-good-conversation-only-more-so/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Allow the information to tell you how it wants to be displayed. As architecture is ‘frozen music’, information architecture is ‘frozen conversation’. 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Hall,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-garcia/to-me-acting-is-like-tennis-you-re-only-as-good-as-the-person-you-re/) [Aimee Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-garcia/) > [“Life is like tennis. Those who serve best usually win.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/life-is-like-tennis-those-who-serve-best-usually-win/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Dialogue is the most fun to write. It's kind of like a tennis match.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-rooney/dialogue-is-the-most-fun-to-write-it-s-kind-of-like-a-tennis-match/) [Sally Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-rooney/) ## More by Sydney J. Harris > [This is a lesson mankind has not yet learned. We identify, and stratify, and treat persons largely on the basis of their accidental (physical)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/this-is-a-lesson-mankind-has-not-yet-learned-we-identify-and-stratify/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Character is something you forge for yourself; temperament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/character-is-something-you-forge-for-yourself-temperament-is/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Middle Age is that perplexing time of life when we hear two voices calling us, one saying, 'Why not?' and the other, 'Why bother?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/middle-age-is-that-perplexing-time-of-life-when-we-hear-two-voices/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [The profound immoralities of our time are cruelty, indifference, injustice and the use of others as means rather than ends in themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/the-profound-immoralities-of-our-time-are-cruelty-indifference/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Marriages we regard as the happiest are those in which each of the partners believes he or she got the best of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/marriages-we-regard-as-the-happiest-are-those-in-which-each-of-the/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [“...it calls for deciding things on their own merit, not because you read it or were told it or grew up believing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/it-calls-for-deciding-things-on-their-own-merit-not-because-you-read/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/ignorance-per-se-is-not-nearly-as-dangerous-as-ignorance-of-ignorance/) [Sydney J. 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Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [“Like all persecuted minority groups, they strike back by forming cabals, by “taking over” certain spheres of activity (in the arts, for instance), and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/like-all-persecuted-minority-groups-they-strike-back-by-forming/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/intolerance-is-the-most-socially-acceptable-form-of-egotism-for-it/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) [Explore all 226 Sydney J. Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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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. 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