Of Speak or Talking

• And then a scholar said, Speak or Talking.

• And he answered, saying:

• You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;

• And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.

• And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.

• For thought is abird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.

• There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.

• The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.

• And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.

• And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell not in words.

• In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.

• When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue.

• Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear;

• For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered.

• When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more.

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