De arte praedicatoria

If anyone wishes to guard against wordiness and the unrestrained wandering of the tongue, let him carefully attend to what follows. The Apostle says: Avoid foolish and worthless tales.¹ Jerome says: "Let there be no place for scurrility and wantonness when you are present." Everything that does not edify the hearers turns to the peril of the hearers; for evil communications corrupt good manners.²

Sixtus also says: "An evil-speaking tongue is a sign of an evil mind." Your tongue follows your understanding; a word without understanding is a disgrace. Augustine also says to Nepotian: "Let it be your duty, dearest one, not only to keep the eyes chaste but also the tongue: let the body never be moved to wantonness, nor let the tongue be moved to jests or idle words." Sixtus also says: "Vain speech is a sign of a vain conscience: as the speech is shown to be, so is the mind proven to be."

O man, what will you be in deeds, if you are found loose in words? It is no greater glory to speak what is known than to be silent about idle things. He is a fool who does not first bring the word to the file of reason before he brings it out to the tongue of his mouth. A man ought first to have scrutiny of his word, before he assumes the office of speaking. Take care that when you are about to speak in public, your wordiness does not bring shame among the unlearned, and indignation among the learned. The flow of words signifies a flowing mind; and wordiness in the mouth depicts what kind of man one is in the mind. Wordiness changes a man into a buffoon, transforms him into a mime, casts him down into a jester, and strips away the dignity of human nature.

The tongue must be restrained, as James says,³ for it sets on fire the wheel of our nativity. Now the wheel of our nativity is the present life, which from the earliest age is turned about in manifold instability. The mobility of the tongue inflames this wheel toward jesting in adolescence, toward deceit in the age of manhood, toward detraction in old age. This spark must be quenched lest it break out into flame; the sprout must not be allowed to grow into a forest; the drop must not be allowed to swell into the abundance of a torrent. It is a greater thing to restrain the tongue than to capture a city, because the one assaults from within, the other from without. Here weapons are taken up against you from yourself; there the fight is over what belongs to another.

Yet it is the height of shame and a deep humiliation not to be able to restrain one single member, not to be able to subdue so vile a slave to oneself. If the tongue is set in a moist place, let it be stayed by constancy; if it wishes to go out, let it be restrained by temperance; let the bolt of reason be applied, let it be trimmed by the file of discretion. If a bridle is placed on a horse so that it does not run away against its rider, where only danger to the body threatens, much more should a bridle be placed on the tongue, through which danger threatens the soul. True simplicity is better than abundant talkativeness; holy rusticity is better than sinful eloquence. He who resolves too often into chattering, uninvited, is easily held in contempt.

Accustom your tongue, therefore, to speak well; precious is the tongue that knows how to construct words only about divine things; and holy is the mouth from which heavenly speech is always brought forth. Consider that you will give an account for every idle word: Now an idle word⁴ is, as Gregory says, "one that lacks either the usefulness of rectitude, or the reason of just necessity." Wordiness is a seed that bears no fruit, a salt gone flat that avails to season nothing, but rather renders the earth barren, because it turns the hearers to laughter. Do not, o man, strive for a multitude of words, but for the fruitful brevity of thoughts, because, as Jerome says, one who strives for brevity ought not say too much.

And if you hold chastity in your mind, do not defile it with dishonest speech; "show yourself wise not by speaking and running about, but by keeping silent and sitting still." The chatterer is never ashamed to speak; he does not consider what he says, but how much he says; he measures not the abundance of thoughts but of words. Moderate speech is a holy reverence; immoderate speech is a mark of shamelessness. Some, in order to indulge their wordiness, imprudently expound the Scriptures which they do not understand, and when they have persuaded others, they assume for themselves the airs of the learned. Truly chatterers are to be avoided like venomous animals, who by their wordiness stupefy others, and imprudently belch forth things that profit neither themselves nor others; and, as Jerome says: "Some carry the most disgraceful rumors, and say they have heard what actually issued from their own lips." Some are talkative and chattering against others, but tongueless and mute concerning themselves. Wordiness is the mirror of the mind, and a chattering tongue is the letter of the heart.

Hear what the Gospel says: A good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of his heart.⁵ Solomon also says: In much speaking sin will not be lacking, and he who restrains his lips is most prudent.⁶ He who guards his mouth guards his soul; but he who is reckless will meet with evils.⁷ The wise man will be silent until the proper time, but the wanton and imprudent, or shameless man, will not keep to the time. David likewise says: A man of many words shall not be established on the earth.⁸ And Gregory says: A man of many words is unskilled; the prudent man uses few words. A short speech makes for knowledge; to speak much is folly. In the beginning, listen; speak last; the end holds more honor; the last word is better than the first.