Speaker 1: Words and wisdom. I would find where wisdom is, where
peace abides, where truth, majestic, chainless and eternal, stands untouched
by the illusions of the world. For surely there is knowledge, truth,
and peace for him who seeks thoughts, words, acts. These
combine to make up the entire life of every individual.
Words and acts are thoughts expressed. We think in words.
In the process of thinking. Words are stored up in
the consciousness, where they await expression and use as occasion
may call them forth. Words fit the mind which receive them.
They are the tally of the intellect which uses them.
The meaner the mind, the more meager is the vocabulary.
A limited and a capacious intellect alike expresses itself through
a limited and an extensive use of words. A great
mind expresses itself by the vehicle of flowing. In noble language,
words stand for conceptions. Conceptions are embodied in words. At
the moment that a conception is formed in the mind,
its corresponding word arises in the thought. Conceptions and words
cannot be hidden away indefinitely, Sooner or later they will
come forth into the outer world of expression. The matter
of the universe is in ceaseless, circulation, Its hidden things
are continuously coming forth into open, invisible life. Likewise, the
mental operations of men are ever in active circulation, and
their hidden thoughts are daily expressing themselves in words and acts.
The words and acts of every man are determined by
the thoughts in which he habitually dwells. Speech is audible thought.
A man reveals himself through his speech, whether he is
pure or impure, foolish or vice. He makes his inner
condition known through his fear. The foolish man is known
by the way in which he talks. The wise man
is known by the purity, gravity, and excellence of his speech.
He who would gain a knowledge of men, says Confucius,
must first learn to understand the meaning of words all
wise men. Saints and great teachers have declared that the
first step in wisdom is to control the tongue. The
discipline of speech is a mental disciple. When a man
controls his tongue, he controls his mind. When he purifies
his speech, he purifies his mind. Speech and mind cannot
be separated. They are two aspects of character. A man
may read scripture, study religions, and practice mystical arts, but
if he allows his tongue to run loosely, he will
be as foolish at the end of all his labors
as he was at the beginning. A man may not
read scripture, nor study religions, nor practice ascetic arts. But
if he controls his tongue and studies how to speak
wisely and well, he will become wise. Wisdom is perceived
in the words which are its expression. We speak of
certain men of Shakespeare, for instance, as being wise. We
never saw Shakespeare, and we know very little of his life.
How then, do we know he was wise by his words?
Only where there are wise words, we know there is
a wise mind. A foolish man may, like a parrot,
repeat wise words, but a wise man frames wise sentences.
His wisdom is shown in originally expressed language. Why do
men speak of words as being bad or good, degrading
or inspiring, lower, lofty, weak or strong? Is it not
because they unconsciously recognize that words cannot be dissociated from thoughts.
Why do pure minded people of void a man who
habitually uses impure language. Is it not because they know
that such words proceed from an unclean mind. It is
impossible for any being to give utterance to words which
are not already lodged in his mind fit in the
form of thought. The impure mind cannot speak pure words.
The pure mind cannot speak impure words. The ignorant cannot
speak learnedly, nor the learned ignorantly. The foolish man cannot
speak wisely, nor the wise foolishly. Altered speech follows an
altered mind. When a man turns from evil to good,
his conversation becomes cleansed. As a man increases in wisdom,
he watches, modifies, and perfects his speech. If the foolish
and the wise are known by their words, what then
is the speech of folly, and what is the language
of wisdom. A man is foolish if he talks aimlessly
and incoherently, if he engages in impure conversations, if he
utters falsehood, if he speaks ill of the absent and
carries about evil reports concerning others, if he frames flattering words,
if he utters violent and abusive words, if his speech
is irreverent and his words are directed against the great
and good, if he speaks in praise of himself. A
man is wise if he talks with purpose and intelligence.
If his conversation is chaste, if he utters words of
sincerity and truth, if he speaks well of and in
defense of the absent, if he speaks words of virtuous reproof,
if his speech is gentle and kindly, if he talks
reverently of the great and good, if he speaks in
praise of others, we are all now and always justified
and condemned by our words. The law of truth is
not held in abeyance, and every day is judgment day.
For every idle word which one speaks, he is at
once called to account, in an immediate and certain loss
of happiness and influence. By the words which we habitually utter,
we publish to the universe the degree of our intelligence
and the standard of our morality, and receive back through
them the judgment of the world. The fool thinks he
is harshly judged and badly treated by others, not knowing
that his real scourge is his own ungoverned tongue. To
control the tongue, to discipline the speech, to strive for
the use of pure and gentler words. This is a
very lowly thing, and one that is much despised. But
it cannot be neglected by him who eagerly aspires to
walk the way of wisdom,