When is the time to speak? And when is the time not to speak?
There are many reasons for keeping silent. Some people keep silent because they don’t trust themselves. The ignorant keep quiet because they don’t want to display their ignorance. Evil people don’t speak out for fear of exposing themselves. We also know of the silence of he lazy, the timid, the disinterested, the contemptuous, the antagonistic, the silence that comes from being spellbound or awestruck, the silence of reverence and adoration.
There is even a silence where only the eyes speak. There is also an ominous, threatening silence – or as Schleiermacher calls it – “silence in seven languages.”
The German classical poet Goethe writes: “Whoever keeps silent has fewer worries.” The reason people hide under their tongues.
The popular saying that “Speech is silver, but silence is golden” is a half truth which hides many pitfalls.
2006-08-30
11:39:39
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18 answers
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asked by
leann
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