The Wisdom of Shutting Up - Wunschloses Glück

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The Wisdom of Shutting Up

2008/11/12 00:38:16瀏覽496｜回應0｜推薦5

Mark Twain was an irascible curmudgeon who frequently outraged people with whom he found fault. He did not suffer fools gladly and employed his talent for sarcasm and satire to skewer self-righteous politicians, remorseless racists, hypocritical churchmen and many others, regardless of their status. The quote appears as if his advice to them. “Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” If you keep silent, even though it might make you look brainless, there still remains some virtue. If you speak from your own need and advantage to cover the lies and fool the mass, it makes you appear truly stupid.

When you speak in order to persuade, you should aim at desires and interests of your audience, not address your own wants and needs. Persuasion is propelled by rationality, even when it has to accommodate unreasonable preferences. If you speak from a strong emotional need, the purpose of speech would be ill served. In this case, silence would be a better choice. Robert South confirmed: “Speech was given to the ordinary sort of men whereby to communicate their mind; but to wise men, whereby to conceal it.” (Sermon, April 30, 1676) Effective communication would take place only after the passions have settled. When Confucius defined what a man could be qualified as a Chun Tzu (An ideal person in Confucianism), one of the qualifications was that he should be earnest in what he did, and careful and reasonable in his speech. In a conversation, a Chun Tzu knows when to conceal and when to continue. In Analects of Confucius (12:23), Tzu Kung asked about friendship. Confucius said: “Speak to your friends honestly, and skillfully show them the right path. If you cannot, then stop. Don't humiliate yourself.”

“Silence is golden.” This proverb states the real value is placed upon not speaking rather than upon speaking. The crucial point is what one says after rational reflection rather than personal advantage. If the latter is the concern, being silence would attract less humiliation.

* This article is a rhetorical exercise of progymnasmata on chreia. Chreia:employing an anecdote which relates a saying or deed of someone well known.

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