The captive word
Posted by Ron Coleman on December 18, 2007
Not everything that is thought should be said, not everything that is said should be written, and not everything that is written should be published.
This is credited to Rabbi Israel Salanter.
The blog, the BlackBerry, the email are all vacuums, begging for content. Yet so often there is far more utility in shutting up; perhaps this is why Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel says in the Mishna, “All my days I grew up among sages, and I have found nothing greater for a person than silence” (Ethics of the Fathers, 1:17).
Is there a greater test, especially in our time, for the verbally facile, the spiritually agitated, the spirit seeking connection?
UPDATE: Turns out I used a version of that quote before.
jan said
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” Ansel Adams
jan said
“The temple of our purest thoughts is silence.” Sarah J. Hale
Ron Coleman said
Ah, shut up already!
jan said
“True eloquence consists of saying all that should be said, and that only.” François La Rochefoucauld
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