I have 2 phrases that I find very useful in a multitude of circumstances. The first phrase is said with an inquisitive tone. "Why do you ask?' My daughter who was five at the time starting asking this last fall . I find this insight baffling. Somehow she had discovered that the reason one has for asking the question may influence the way you need to answer the question. I have added this phrase to my responses which has resulted in my being better equipped to answer my friends' , clients' and family's questions. The second phrase is "We'll see." I use it all the time because it commits me to nothing while leaving the person on the other end of the conversation content. I then have time to think about what I want to do and revisit the item. This phrase was obtained while under the influence of the Batten family.
We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection." (Anaïs Nin)