So true... On the necessity of small talk

"I said it was raining cats and dogs", she repeated.
"I heard you", he answered, with his affectionate smile.
It showed that he had not meant to be offensive. He did not speak because he had nothing to say. But if nobody spoke unless he had something to say, Kitty reflected, with a smile, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech.

W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil