Plutarch writes
Before you speak, reflect on the following
- what is this word that is so eager for utterance
- to what is this tongue marching
- what good will come of speaking now or what harm of silence
He proceeds to ask
if words are neither useful to the speaker, nor necessary for the hearer, nor contain any pleasure or charm, why are they spoken?
Personally, I like to be quiet.
I actually do not like to talk, & would rather just listen.
Keyboards are great for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try a balance of both and lately been trying to talk less 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I talk too much.
BUT: I would also include “keyboarding” as part of talking, but at least typing requires a couple of more steps than just opening one’s maw and emitting the laisse-bon-mots.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said my friend
LikeLike
Shhh! Be quiet! I’m reading.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I am quiet, it’s thoughts coming outta my ears
LikeLiked by 2 people
Plutarch’s question appears (erroneously) to presuppose a thinker of thoughts. Thoughts occur due to sense contacts and conditioning; it’s more a question of chance than necessity. 🙂
LikeLike
Plutarch’s questions come at the end of a long discourse on talkativeness and he gives examples of people who for their inability to control their tongues lost their lives. He is, by asking his questions, trying to propose a cure for a malady.
LikeLike
So the Buddhistic/Advaitan remedy would be to realise, as I suggested, that “thoughts occur due to sense contacts and conditioning”. With that realisation comes a dissociation with inner verbalisations and a lessening of the impulse to vocalise them. What was Plutarch’s cure, Mak?
LikeLike
The cure is death, or alcoholic coma. I’ve tested this theory.
LikeLiked by 3 people
“In some situations, if you say nothing, you are called dull; if you talk, you are thought impertinent and arrogant. It is hard to know what to do in this case. The question seems to be, whether your vanity or your prudence predominates.”
― William Hazlitt
LikeLike
That is the million dollar question
LikeLiked by 1 person
Alcohol makes the lips loose or so I hear. Death definitely is a good cure
LikeLike
He says to be like Zeno who cut off his tongue so as not to betray his friends or the wife who killed herself when she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. That is to say no cure, I guess.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So far then, it’s down to Pink’s Brandy or my interminable years of meditation.
LikeLike
I think so and the answer will depend on our temperament
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see this as having the wisdom to know when speaking up is necessary, towards a worthwhile purpose. As well as understanding what kind of shit storm you may jump into by speaking words that might be best left unsaid.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes indeed.
LikeLike
“Silence is golden.”
“Loose lips, sink ships.”
“He who talks most, says the least.”
“Good listeners are hard to find.”
Talkaholics are often associated with narcissism and neuroticism. Such individuals hold their own thoughts in high esteem while placing little value on the thoughts of others. This compulsive behavior can also be aggressively tactical, intentionally done to drown-out contradictory ideas or persons perceived as competitors.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve noticed these type of people are very good at interrupting you as well.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes, indeed.
LikeLike
“I have always regretted my speech, not silence” says Simonides
LikeLiked by 2 people
A lesson sorely needed.
LikeLiked by 3 people
It died with common sense
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always loved this quote:
Sounds like something Mark Twain would have said. It is advice I should apply to myself at times.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have tried to not say anything I would want to withdraw
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a government press officer I learned the value of minimalism. Later, working for the health service I was responding (on the phone) to a Daily Telegraph reporter who lived near my parents. He told them I was very good because he couldn’t get a useful word out of me.
LikeLike
If, “I was very good because he couldn’t get a useful word out of me.” can be said of me, I will be very happy
LikeLike
[…] While the men engage in a brutal physical competition which often leaves them hurt (sometimes for life), the women are divided into two separate groups, one supporting each of the competitors. They’re expected to chant and do dances that on occasion even resemble sex acts. During this process it’s required they be scantily clad, further enforcing their servile role in the tribal structure. The more troubling aspect of these customs regards age. Very young teens are encouraged, one could even say indoctrinated, into embracing their own socio-cultural subservience by taking part in this activity. This means we’re talking about a “civilization” that is irredeemably inferior to our own and incompatible with our values. Unless I tell you I’m not describing Sub-Saharan Africa, but Texas. And the brutal competition is football; and the scantily clad women are cheerleaders. How does it all look now? I can see you smiling there in the corner, Makagutu! […]
LikeLike
This is really popular lately, a doctor had published it on Facebook.
I am usually quiet, but I think too much instead of talking unnecessary things.
LikeLike
That’s a good thing to do. To listen twice as much as you talk
LikeLiked by 1 person