Verse of the Day for March 28

Proverbs is frequently unflattering about speech, and this line is one of its sharpest, mostly because of what it does not say.

A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

Notice that the wise man is not described as having nothing to say. He has the same material. The difference is timing — till afterwards.

This is not a proverb about suppression. It is about the gap between having a thought and releasing it, and it treats that gap as the whole of wisdom in this matter.

Uttereth all is the diagnosis. Not that the fool speaks, but that everything in him goes out immediately, unsorted, at the moment of maximum feeling.

Most damage between people is done inside about ninety seconds, by something entirely true, said before afterwards arrived.

A quiet mind is partly a practical achievement: fewer things said today that have to be repaired tomorrow.

Afterwards is a real place. Most conversations improve enormously if you can get to it.