Silence is golden

Think a minute…The famous scientist Albert Einstein did not always follow social customs. One evening the president of a university hosted a dinner to honor Einstein and give him an award.

Einstein was not scheduled to speak at the dinner, but after he received the award the audience began cheering and calling for him to give a speech. The president asked him to say a few words.

So reluctantly Einstein returned to the stage, except this is all he said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m very sorry but I have nothing to say.” Then he sat down. A few seconds later Einstein stood back up and said: “In case I do have something to say, I will come back.” 

About six months later, Einstein sent this message to the president of the university: “Now I have something to say.” So another dinner was held and this time Einstein gave a full speech. 

There is a saying: “If your mind goes blank, don’t forget to turn off the sound.” It’s simple: If you have nothing to say, then say nothing. Someone observed that “Wise men talk because they have something to say, but fools talk because they always have to say something.”

If you do have something worth saying, it is better to use as few words as possible. If we keep it short and sweet, we might keep more friends. Or as someone said: “The reason a dog has so many friends is he wags his tail, not his tongue.” 

The Bible says that everyone should be slow to speak and quick to listen.

Since we have two ears and one mouth, we should probably do at least twice as much listening as we do speaking. Besides, we will never learn anything new if we do all the talking.

“Silence is golden.” Silence can bring you both wisdom and true friends, which are worth far more than gold. Someone said: “A good listener is not only popular, but he knows a lot.” 

The Greek philosopher Publius said: “I have often been sorry for my speech, but almost never sorry for my silence.”

Why don’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for not controlling your words and talking? Then ask Him to help you start changing and learning to listen, so you can say a lot with your silence. Just think a minute… 

Samoa Observer

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