Summary and Analysis
Book IV:
Chapter VIII - Wittiness and Tact
Summary
Because relaxation is an important part of life, good taste and propriety in one's social relations are a virtue of great value. Wittiness, the mean in this area, pertains to what one says and how one says it, as well as to how and when one listens. Its essential attribute is tactfulness, with which it is often identified. The vice of excess in this area is Buffoonery; that of defect is boorishness.