SURE WAY TO BE POPULAR.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14343, 1 May 1912, Page 12

SURE WAY TO BE POPULAR.

REPEAT THE COMPLIMENTS YOU RECEIVE. v

There ia no surer way for a woman to make herself unpopular with both sexes than by repeating the compliments she receives. .Tako tho bello for instance. She is possessed of beauty, and wherever she goes nion look at her and pay her court and tell her how lovely fihe is to behold. But if she proceeds immediately to tell theso men how many others liave addressed similar remarks to her, shewill find her train of followers decreasing, and only among strangers will she be ablo to recruit tho depleted ranks. Every man likes to iniagino himself the first one to discover a woman's beauty; and the tactful woman will allow him to believe ho is the first. Nothing bores a man like hearing a woman relate her conquests of other men. Hβ does not want her thinking of other men in his presence; much less talking of them. Ho wants her to listen to him, and to seem to find his conversation new and interesting. ' And if she wishes to talk of some man, to select him for the theme. A mother is the only woman who can really enjoy hearing another woman tell of tho praiso and admiration she has received, and the other woman must be her daughter. And noty,every mother. Mothers who possess certain temperaments, arid retain youth and charm into maturity, do not always enjoy hearing tho triumphs of their daughteTS. But euch mothers are the exception to the rule. > There are many women "who enjoy knowing their friends are".-admired. But knowing your friend is ddmired, "and hearing her boast of it'," are quite different things. You may take real pleasure in going to your friend and telling her of tho beautiful compliments you have heard given her. But if ehe came to you and *told you of these compliments which had been paid to her, you Would not feel the same pleasure, because tho repeating to another of tho praises she had received would mark her as abounding in conceit and lacking in modesty. It is the same, in the matter of achievements, or possessions. The man who is forever boasting of his wealth'; of tho honours ho has received; or the woman who prides herself upon her voice, or her intellect, or her social position, and who talks continually of what people have said about her in a laudatory way—these are tho men and women who never know the happiness whitfli real friendship brings, because they awaken an antagonistic feelinc in the breast of the most liberal, by their self-centred ideas, and their insufferable conceit. It is not necessary for the beauty to deny her beauty. That would bo a foolish pretence. But she can adroitly change the conversation when it becomes too personal, and she cwu refrain from any mention of her'own consciousness of it, and she can afford to be most liberal in her praise of other women's charms. It will interest her listeners far more than if she recounts her own triumphs. Just as tho woman with the beautiful voice can afford to compliment another singer ; and the woman with brilliant mental gifts can laud another's intellcctuaJ achievements without detracting from her own values. Beauty, talents, acomplishmente, all speak for themselves: and tho possessors of them do not need to call the attention of the world to these valuable assets. They lessen the worth of their wealth when they do so.