Once, a disciple of Socrates came to find him in a hurry. He gasped for breath and then said excitedly: "I want to tell you something; you will never guess what it is."

Surprisingly, Socrates stopped him before he could reveal the information and asked: "Did you filter it through three sieves?"

Sensing that his teacher was displeased, his student shook his head. He was puzzled by the question.

Socrates continued: "When you want to tell someone something, you should filter it through at least three sieves! The first sieve is called truth. Is what you want to tell me true?"

"I heard it from people off the street or from my friends. Everyone was talking about it. I dont know if its true."

"Then you should use your second sieve to check. If it is not true, it should at least be kind. Is what you are going to tell me kind?"

"No, just the opposite." His student bowed his head in shame.

Socrates went on tirelessly: "Then lets use the third sieve. Is what you are so eager to tell me important?"

"Its not very important," said his disciple.

Socrates continued: "Since this news is not important, is slanderous, and you dont know whether its true, why would you relay it? It will only cause trouble for the two of us.

“So, dont listen to gossip. People who spread such information around don’t do so in good faith; they just want to say things about other people, whether they are accurate or not. They will not hesitate to spread rumors about anyone, including you."

Whether this story is true or not, it does bring up an interesting point, especially now that there is so much fake news on the Internet. We should certainly use the three sieves of "truth," "goodwill," and "importance" before speaking.

三個篩子

有一次，蘇格拉底的一位門生匆匆忙忙地跑來找蘇格拉底，邊喘氣邊興奮地說：「告訴您一件事，你絕對想不到的。」

等一下！」蘇格拉底毫不留情地制止他，「你告訴我的話，用三個篩子過濾了嗎？」

他的學生察覺情況不妙，不解地搖了搖頭。

蘇格拉底繼續說：「當你要告訴別人一件事時，至少應該用三個篩子過濾一遍！第一個篩子叫做真實，你要告訴我的事是真實的嗎？」

「我是從街上或朋友那裡聽來的，大家都這麼說，我也不知道是不是真的。」

「那就應該用你的第二個篩子去檢查，如果不是真的，至少也應該是善意的，你要告訴我的事是善意的嗎？」

「不，正好相反。」他的學生羞愧地低下頭來。

蘇格拉底不厭煩地繼續說：「那麼我們再用第三個篩子檢查看看，你這麼急著要告訴我的事，是重要的嗎？」

他的弟子說：「並不是很重要。」

蘇格拉底打斷了他的話：「既然這個消息並不重要，又不是出自善意，更不知道它是真是假的，你又何必說呢？說了也只會造成我們兩個人的困擾及懷疑罷了。」

因此「不要聽信搬弄是非的人或誹謗者的話。因為他不會是出自善意告訴你的，他既會想要說別人的種種，當然也會同樣地對待你。」