Literature is full of it. Shakespeare nearly reaches the
crest of it in the advice Polonius gave to his son. But here, as
always, the very climax is the Bible.
"Let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more
than these cometh of evil."
This is not advice to taciturnity. It is not a suggestion that you
should be stolid and wooden in manner and speech. The reason of it is
to prevent you from making mistakes or betraying yourself by foolish
and unnecessary utterance. My suggestion to young men that they
practise reserve in speech is merely a practical and almost a
commercial matter. Do not be "a man full of talk," as Zophar cuttingly
puts it.
There is a loss of authority that comes from incessant talking. There
is a surrender of dignity, which is one of the most influential things
in man's attitude toward and in connection with his fellows. Silence,
or rather reserve, gives a kind of emphasis to what you do. To a great
many, also, there is an index of your character in the quantity of
your speech. It is so refreshing to meet a man from whom you draw the
feeling that he is as deep and as full as the seven seas.
This will never be drawn from any man whose talk is continuous, no
matter if he is an encyclopedia of information and a battery of
brilliancy.
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