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German proverb , Words of Common Sense for Mind, Body, and Soul
Words are silver, silence is gold.
Words are silver, silence is gold
Indian yogi , Learning to Fall
Before speaking, consider whether it is an improvement upon silence.
Is it an improvement upon silence
Quaker Saying , A Hidden Wholeness
Do not speak unless you can improve upon the silence.
Do not speak
Talk To, Not About
Refrain from speaking ill of others. A friend told me about a time he resolved not to talk about any third person; if he had something to say about someone, he would say it directly to that person instead. If you feel tempted to put someone down, assume knowledge of their bad motives, or generally prove their inferiority, take a breath. Even though we might feel a rush of power in saying those words, we ultimately get no benefit from dividing people and sowing seeds of dissension and dislike. There are ways to talk about wrong behavior without derision or condemnation.
Counsel on guarding our speech.
The Tao of Walt Whitman
Silence
Monday
"I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen
"And accrue what I hear into myself. . . . and let sounds
contribute toward me."
• Try responding as concisely as possible to the things people say to you. Put your attention on listening, rather than speech.
Tuesday
"I swear I see what is better than to tell the best,
It is always to leave the best untold."
• Use as many nonverbal modes of expression as you have at your command. Consider communicating via facial expressions, gifts, your choice of clothing. Have fun!
Wednesday
"I swear I begin to see little or nothing in audible words,
All merges toward the presentation of the unspoken meanings of the earth,
Toward him who sings the songs of the body and of the truths of the earth,
Toward him who makes the dictionaries of words that print cannot touch."
• Instead of saying kind things to people, do kind things. Open a door for someone, smile, do a favor . . .
Thursday
"What do you seek so pensive and silent?"
• Silence holds all things. Find a place to absorb what it has to tell you.
Friday
"Writing and talk do not prove me,
I carry the plenum of proof and every thing else in my face,
With the hush of my lips I wholly confound the skeptic."
• How often is your speech motivated by the need to have the attention of others? When you sense someone else doing this, find a way to give them the validation they want.
Saturday
"When the subtle air, the impalpable, the sense that words and reason hold not, surround us and pervade us,
Then I am charged with untold and untellable wisdom, I am silent, I require nothing further"
• In your experiments with expressing yourself nonverbally this week, what effect did this have on your relationships? On your interior life? Consider whether it might be worthwhile to do this more often.
Sunday
• In silence is fullness and mystery. The wild unknown, and the language of the heart. It is where we go when words can no longer express what we need to say, and from it may come our most honest communication.
Connie Shaw with reflection exercises based on Walt Whitman's poetry on silence.
Zen master Paichang, Frederic Brussat's Twitter Collection
Shut your mouth, close your lips, and say something!
Say something in silence
Jelaluddin Rumi, The Fragrance of Faith
Now be silent.
Let the One who creates the words speak.
He made the door.
He made the lock.
He also made the key.
He also made the key
Jelaluddin Rumi, Living Presence
Since in order to speak, one must first listen,
learn to speak by listening.
[Mathnawi I, 1627]
Learn to speak by listening.
Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
The Abba Theophilus, the archbishop, came to Scetis one day. The brethren who were assembled said to Abba Pambo, "Say something to the archbishop, so that he may be edified." The old man said to them, "If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my speech."
If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my speech.
Good Advice
Make a list of the advice you give to other people. What are you telling others to do to make their life better? Reflect on whether the advice you give to others isn't just advice to yourself. Sometimes we tell other people what to do as a way of reminding ourselves what we need to do. Realize that your advice to them may be a way to remind yourself.
Counsel on listening to your own advice.
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