I hate small talk! I can't do it.

My father took me to see Hank Williams on December 14th, 1952. I was two years and four months of age. And I remember a little cool eddy of hair hitting my cheek, and I remember the smell of his hair oil, and I remember the mingling tonality of the small talk before the show started. Those are my memories.

It's not that parents expect a lot from their kids, except, maybe 5-10 minutes of time in a day spent on something as simple as small talk.

I'm not good at small talk. I'm really not. I'm not that great at any talk.

In spite of being professionally gregarious, in my nonpaid hours I'm a bit of a hermit. After being around a crew of fifty people for twelve hours a day on a film set, I really like my alone time, and as always, I abhor small talk.

I'm not good at meeting people, and I'm not good at small talk.

I'm not a fan of small talk but if you want to get into the big questions of life - your deepest regret, your greatest joy - then we're going to have a great chat.

I love it when someone starts a conversation - romantic, platonic, small talk - as long as it's related to food.

If your interviewer makes small talk with you, then be chatty back.

When you have to do small talk, you know, 'Hello, how are you?' after that, I don't know what to do. I go, 'OK, then,' and walk away.

I find small talk exhausting, and I don't like myself when I'm around people.

Cyndi Lauper is really good at talking to you about normal things. It's strange to be in the presence of a big celebrity like that. You want to make these connections and say things related to being a fan. It's not as interesting for them. She's amazing at making small talk without it seeming small.

I don't Twitter or blog. I'm bad at small talk, and don't have good 'chat'. Talk to me about publishing, and I can go on for hours.

Don't like small talk, love rainy days.

I haven't got the patience for small talk, although I once saw a woman standing on her own in the corner, and I realised it was Monica Lewinsky, and I had the nicest evening with her - she was charming.

I am not good at small talk. I will hide in a cupboard to avoid chitty-chat.

I meet people, and we can get past small talk pretty quickly if they've read my books. It's a great shortcut.

I hate having to do small talk. I'd rather talk about deep subjects. I'd rather talk about meditation, or the world, or the trees or animals, than small, inane, you know, banter.

During the Samuel Johnson days they had big men enjoying small talk; today we have small men enjoying big talk.

That's all small talk is - a quick way to connect on a human level - which is why it is by no means as irrelevant as the people who are bad at it insist. In short, it's worth making the effort.