"lots of times you don't know what interest you most till you start talking about something that doesn't interest you most."

Mr. Antolini: "You don't care to have somebody stick to the point when he tells you something?"

Holden: "Oh sure! I like somebody to stick to the point and all. But I don't like them to stick too much to the point. I don't know. I guess I don't like it when somebody sticks to the point all the time. The boys that got the best marks in Oral Expression were the ones that stuck to the point all the time - I admit it. [...]"

[...]

Mr. Antolini: "Don't you think there's a time and place for everything? Don't you think if someone starts out to tell you about his father's farm, he should stick to his guns, then get around to telling you about his uncle's brace?[...]"

Holden: "Yes - I don't know. I guess he should. I mean I guess he should've picked his uncle as a subject, instead of a farm, if that interested him most. But what I mean is, lots of time you don't know what interest you most till you start talking about something that doesn't interest you most. I mean you can't help it sometimes. What I think is, you're supposed to leave somebody alone if he's at least being interesting and he's getting all excited about something. [...] I mean you can't hardly ever simplify and unify something just because somebody wants you to. [...]"

Chapter 24. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger