The 48 Laws of Power

Your silence will make other people uncomfortable. Comments are machines of interpretation and explanation, they have to know what you are thinking. When you carefully control what you reveal, they cannot pierce your intentions or your meaning. The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself. If you need a favor from people, do not remind them of what you have done for them in the past, trying to stimulate feelings of gratitude.