Talk Less Say More

I was pondering upon Speech in the last few days. Many people are very quick in TALKING and giving judgements, but very slow in really SAYING something...meaningful speech I mean. We keep telling ourselves we are the cream of the world, the best, the reformed...but are we really? So, here's an excerpt given by a Hindu spiritual leader on Speech, that I received from a friend on email. Please read this first. After that, I've written what I derived from it.

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Practice moderation in speech. That will help you in many ways. It will develop Prema (Love), for most misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken words. When the foot slips, the wound can be healed. But when the tongue slips, the wound it causes in the heart of another will fester for life. The tongue is liable to four big errors - uttering falsehood, scandalising, finding fault with others, and excessive articulation. These have to be avoided if there has to be Shanthi (Peace) for the individual as well as for the society. The bond of brotherhood will be tightened if people speak less and speak sweet. You are all spiritual aspirants at various stages of the road and mounam (Silence) as a discipline will be valuable for you. Silence is the language of the realised soul.

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Now, have you noticed that when you hurt someone with your words it hurts you in return? So, isn't it so much better for us to keep quiet, or say only what you must and just move on? But still we keep repeating the noisy pattern - maybe we are just trying to prove ourselves right, but in that process we only end up sounding arrogantly self-righteous and stupid. Are words so tempting that we can't keep away from uttering them? Or is hurting someone and ourselves so addictive that we keep using verbal bullets to prove an empty point? Or do we use words to devalue someone who we know is better than us, cos that just makes us feel we are better than them? What is it in humans that makes them want to sound right all the time? But sadly for everyone's information, no one is right/wrong. Everyone is different, everyone thinks, writes, reads, comments, acts, reacts, copes etc etc differently. Someone might hurt you with their words. But then again, those are mere WORDS by them. Don't let their words affect you...stay calm, don't bend, don't break. And don't slam them back with hurtful words either. Cos Silence sometimes is the most powerful and effective form of Speech.


Silence can convey alot more than words. Your Silence can be the deafening Sound amidst their hollow Noise. Sometimes being silent is the only way you'd be heard. Silence is a higher form of speech. Less conveys more. So, TALK less, SAY more. When was the last time you engaged in empty speech or hurt someone else with words just cos you could? When was the last time that Silence(/less words) really made you hear someone else loud and clear? When was the last time you made someone feel your words than just hear?

I dedicate this post to my Uncle A who's bedridden now due to a sudden illness. He is a scholar in talking less and saying more...he's always been an inspiration to me...he hardly gets into meaningless arguments, bitching or hurting people, only cos he's very wise and knows that speaking silence is often the most powerful sound...

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