|
Most sayings in praise of silence are excessive. Carlyle, who did not practice it, said, "Silence is the eternal duty of man"; Benjamin Disraeli wrote, "Silence is the mother of Truth"; and Menander claimed, "All things, save silence, bring repentance." In the Gesta Romanorum we read, "Hear, see, and be silent, if you wish to live in peace." True, but then, why be a man at all, why not be a jellyfish. True also that Hitler and Mussolini, had they never talked, would have lived their lives out in peace. But so would Lincoln and Joan of Arc and John the Baptist. And so would He whose sandals St. John thought himself unworthy to loose. |
|||
|
