Silence is Golden

I learned that the phrase “silence is golden” was originally part of an 1848 proverb that states: “Speech is silver and silence is golden.”

Knowing when to keep you mouth shut is a great virtue. Sometimes it truly is better to say nothing at all. It’s a behavior that can show higher moral standards.

Silence does not mean an absence of words, but rather a moderation of our speech so everything we say serves — hopefully — some good purpose. Life is a constant struggle between the needs of our “ego” self and the desires of our “true” self.

I’ve found myself biting my tongue and not typing away to respond to social media posts on a variety of topics, including comments from tow operators on posts of recoveries. While a well-meaning critique is great, many comments are downright nasty.

For example, there was an incident when a tower was caught in the middle of a protest and left his truck when the crowd overtook it. While many towers commented they would not leave their truck, as an employer I can replace metal, but I can’t replace a life.

How many times do we say things to purposely make someone else feel guilty or insecure so we can feel better about ourselves?

Words, even ordinary words, have great power. The difference in the effect of our words, depends on where the words come from inside us. By becoming aware of our own habits and recognizing what’s behind them, we can develop “silence” of words.

There is another side to this silence of words. We can’t develop our speaking into a virtue without learning to listen.  Listening is the first prerequisite for speaking helpful words. I’ve found that sometimes my words miss the mark because I haven’t listened enough to what the other person is saying.

I think the 1848 version of speech is silver and silence is golden is still great advice for 2020.