Monday, February 9, 2004

can I quote you?

Whatever you may fail to guard, guard well your tongue, For flawed speech unfailingly invokes anguish and affliction.

By a single word of injury Do all a man's virtues lose their goodness.

The wound caused by fire heals in its time; The burn inflicted by an inflamed tongue never heals.

— Tirukkural 13: 126-129

[Excerpted from the Tirukkural, translated by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Copyright Himalayan Academy Publications, www.himalayanacademy.com.]

The pen may be mightier than the sword but the tongue beats them all.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so true...so true!

Anonymous said...

Elaine, some people are not further book-educated and may inadvertently choose the wrong words sometimes. However, when for example a man says the wrong words, he is hoping the woman is insightful enough to know what he really means because she knows he has a pure heart.

King