Poet Dryden had said that “the more one speaks, the less one thinks”. Former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made this concept simpler. On one occasion, a person asked him: “How much time do you take to prepare a 10-minute-long speech?” He answered two weeks. Again he asked, “How many days do you spend to prepare a one-hour-long speech?” “One week,” whispered Wilson. Once again that person asked, “Okay, if you are told to speak for an hour then?” “If this is the case then no need of preparation, I can give speech from this moment continuously,” Wilson said.
A wise person once said, “God has given me two ears; but one tongue. Therefore, I should speak half the things whatever I listen.”
In the present age, our leaders and politicians lost the art to impress the masses with their behaviour, values, willingness and such qualities. So, speaking unnecessarily for a long time becomes the norm for social or political fame.
Today, the extent of superfluous talking is so high that there are even competitions for who can speak a lot. One 20-year-old American, Tim Harley, continuously talked for 140 hours and made a record. He did it for a good reason. There were two children suffering from leukaemia in his city, and he helped collect five thousand dollars for them with his unique act.
But few superfluous, long speeches are meant for such noble causes in today’s world. A philosopher recorded conversations of higher class students in a hostel for a week and came to a conclusion that 95% of the talks were futile. Even that remaining 5% did not belong to any advanced thinking. According to a few psychologists, gossiping is one of the primary reasons for youths’ sluggish cognitive growth.
It is also true that today, people often do not listen to talks or speeches. In 1972, Mike McCool spoke for 42 hours and 32 minutes continuously at Texas Assembly, but the legislature rejected his legislation in minutes.
In this context, there is a well-known story in relation to Bodhisattva. Once upon a time Buddha, in his earlier birth, was born as a prince and always used to stay silent. Parents constantly remained worried for his silence. One day, the prince got disturbed because of the non-stop creep of a bird while meditating. His bodyguard shot an arrow towards that bird. After seeing the bird was wounded severely, prince patted the bird and said, “You were creeping unnecessarily, so you harmed yourself.” Hearing the prince talking, bodyguard ran fast and said to queen that “the Prince spoke today”. King, queen, ministers and others came near the prince. But he remained silent as usual. The king ordered the death warrant for the guard. While the commander was going to kill the guard, the prince spoke by looking towards the guard that “you talked, so you got pain”. It was to save the guard from being called a liar.
This is a perfect instance of why one should control one’s voice. This centuries-old story may not influence present generation; but it is worth remembering Russian novelist Sholokhov’s one character. The moment he gets an opportunity, he will start speaking. In every speech he includes a sentence: “A good word is a piece of silver; therefore …”
One day a listener stood up and said to him that “Silence is gold; why don’t you turn your silver into gold.”
The more we are able to turn our silver into gold the more beneficial for our lives.
