“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.” – Maurice Switzer, “Mrs. Goose, Her Book” 1907.
Have you heard this fun quote before? It’s usually employed as a reminder not to go running off at the mouth about topics or situations where we might not have all the details. There is a close biblical equivalent in Proverbs 17:28, but it is not quite the same as the quote we hear most often.
I wonder if we’ve really thought through how this applies in the modern age. I mean, certainly we have seen where people don’t apply this common sense thought. Examples abound. A snippet of an event or speech or lecture taken out of context, sent to the right (or wrong) people and it blows up on Twitter or Facebook or various blogs in no time flat.
Almost makes you miss the days when someone would just hastily fire off an angry email, doesn’t it?
At least those emails only went to a select group. With Twitter and Facebook, strangers with attitudes just seem to pile on out of nowhere compounding the situation. Well, where Switzer’s quote falls short, and Proverbs 17:28 lacks depth, Proverbs 25 provides more explanation.
“What your eyes have seen do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame? Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.”
Proverbs 25:8-10 (ESV)
Whether we start the story or just pile on, it’s amazing how things can change when the truth comes out. At that point, it’s too late and you are already made to look foolish. Better to go to the “neighbor himself” and get the facts straight before putting it all out there for the world to see.
Man, too bad this is in the Old Testament. I wish Jesus would have said something like that.
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