The truth was that I could not trust my tongue. For too many years, it had been my instrument of self-aggrandizement; it had developed its own destructive habits, nearly impossible to break. I thought of how complicated my relationships had always seemed, how easy it was for me to wound and betray others without meaning to do so. I realized that behind almost every ruined relationship in my life lay words — words spoken in anger, in haste, in high and unthinking good spirits, in deception. I knew that if I were ever to become a simpler being, single-minded in my dealings with others, I would have to permanently curb my tongue.
— Paula Huston, The Holy Way