You entertain everyone who comes as a guest to your home-best friends, acquaintances, strangers. One of the greatest rewards of running a home can be making your guests feel wel­come and wanted. If you can treat every guest who enters your door as cordially as your favorite one, you have learned the art of entertaining and an important part of the meaning of a home. There are many homes where that happens. If you have had that experience as a guest, you're certain to remember it with pleasure. Only warm, secure people can be relaxed and friendly with strangers, and only they are as nearly perfect hosts and hostesses as there can be.

it depends very much on the hosts
There's no question about it, in order to be a really good host you must develop something like a sixth-sense about people. You must learn to spot how they react to others and others to them. It is not so much a matter of intuition as a realistic knowledge of people which will enable you to bring all sorts of people together successfully. It is just as im­portant that you know your own capacity for keeping a party going. Knowing your guests and your own skills as a hostess are fundamental to the making up of a guest list.

When you plan a party you needn't necessarily invite only people who are alike in personality and interests. In fact, such a gathering can be tiresome. A little leaven is excellent. A great talker and a good listener can have a marvelous time together. So can a group of people who like to argue. If you must mix those who like argument with those who don't, be prepared to police the situation and protect the feelings of your peaceful guests. But it's better not to mix them, and on the night you choose to invite your aggressive friends, be sure you feel strong and belligerent yourself!

As you become progressively more experienced hosts, you can afford to take all sorts of interesting chances which will be stimulating and a gratifying challenge to your social graces. Until you're sure you've achieved that enviable state, better not mix vastly different types of people too much. Just remember that a good guest list-the right group­ing of people-takes knowledge and thought and is as important to the success of your party as good food.

good friends
Most of all, naturally, you will entertain your good friends. Perhaps there still are some people who believe so thoroughly in rules that they entertain even their best friends with great formality.