Many Words, Many Faults
Where words are many, sin is not absent; whoever holds their lips is wise.
How many needless words did I speak today, and how many of them do I regret?
📝Reflection
Speak much, and words that should not have been said inevitably slip in. As an overflowing river stirs up mud, overflowing speech stirs up error. The Hebrew sage saw silence not as a passive virtue but as active wisdom. To govern the lips is not the frustration of being unable to speak but the disciplined power of choosing only the necessary words. Laozi's 'those who know do not speak' and Confucius's 'be sparing in speech' mean the same. Much of our regret comes not from things undone but from words that should not have been said. To cut one word is wiser than to say ten well.
🌱Apply It Today
When words overflow in conversation today, swallow one of them and listen to the other person more.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
