A careless and thoughtless speaking manner
Is an identification banner
Of a man who cannot himself control
Since he has not yet developed his soul.
But the man whose development is right
Will always endeavour to weigh aright
Each and every word he intends to use
So he dares not his right to speak abuse.
He will not utter at once every thought
That his mind has all of a sudden brought,
But will with care in silence it retain
So that it may strength and nourishment gain.
He then may choose to give the thought some form
After it has thus undergone reform,
Or may see after all there is no need
That such thought as words from him should proceed.
The words he may speak have both pow’r and life
Since they were in silence nourished to thrive,
And they’ll then take effect as they were meant
So that they need not have been wastefully spent.
He keeps the hearth of his thoughts always pure,
And in keeping silence is ever sure
Of a peaceful and happy life on earth
Which accords other men a little mirth.
Let us all be like the man of silence
Whose mere presence inspires confidence,
And who at no time on his impulse acts
And thus what is good to himself attracts.
Let us not talk simply because we could,
But think ere we talk when and how we should.
And let’s not talk on what we do not know
So we do not thereby destruction sow.
– Victor Emmanuel Uwah, Poems From Without, 1997
