It is remarkable, if one keeps on trying, how quickly he will conquer his awkwardness and self-consciousness, and will gain ease of manner and facility of expression.
Everywhere we see people placed at a tremendous disadvantage because they have never learned the art of putting their ideas into interesting, telling language.

We see brainy men at public gatherings, when momentous questions are being discussed, sit silent, unable to tell what they know, when they are infinitely better informed than those who are making a great deal of display of oratory or smooth talk.
People with a lot of ability, who know a great deal, often appear like a set of dummies in company, while some superficial, shallow-brained person holds the attention of those present simply because he can tell what he knows in an interesting way.

They are constantly humiliated and embarrassed when away from those who happen to know their real worth, because they can not carry on an intelligent conversation upon any topic.

There are hundreds of these silent people at our national capital--many of them wives of husbands who have suddenly and unexpectedly come into political prominence.
Many people--and this is especially true of scholars--seem to think that the great _desideratum_ in life is to get as much valuable information into the head as possible.

But it is just as important to know how to give out knowledge in a palatable manner as to acquire it.
You may be a profound scholar, you may be well read in history and in politics, you may be wonderfully well-posted in science, literature, and art, and yet, if your knowledge is locked up within you, you will always be placed at a great disadvantage.
Locked-up ability may give the individual some satisfaction, but it must be exhibited, expressed in some attractive way, before the world will appreciate it or give credit for it.