How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.

mysterious disappearance. A conclave of the village elders was called, and for three days and three nights they sat solemnly discussing the theoretical motives and causes of the donkey’s disappearance and the possible chances of finding him again. In the midst of one of these solemn conferences a knock was heard on the door and the town fool entered with the news that he had found the lost donkey. When asked how he had been able to succeed in his quest, where all the elders, despite their wisdom, had failed, the fool replied, “ When I heard that the donkey was lost, I went to the donkey’s stall, faced the wall as the donkey did, imagined that I was the donkey, and thought where I would go if I were to wander from the stall. Then I went to this place, and there the donkey was.” If you would learn to make friends and keep them, observe closely, find some good point about the friend you wish to make and compliment him thereon. There is no art in finding defects in people-anyone can spot and criticize a character defect, a foolish habit, or a stupid custom. It is much more difficult to find something good about a neighbour and to mention it in approbation without becoming sentimental or maudlin in the act. No woman wishes to be told she has grey hair, but every woman wishes to know that the colour scheme she has chosen for her dress, probably with great care and fore¬ thought, is appreciated by the onlooker. If you have learned in advance that a man has a particular hobby, make it a point to ask a question about that hobby that will draw him out, thus enabling him to feel superior and more knowing, and giving him an easy opportunity to expand his ego. There is no human being, who, if given the opportunity, does not like to find an audience. The art of making friends consists in large measure in shrewdly guessing the particular subject your dinner party would like to expand upon. Once you have learned to look sharply, and judge from the general ensemble of a man what his probable interests are, it is not difficult to get that dinner partner to speak.