The intelligent person restrains his words.
—Proverbs 17:27
The late President Harry Truman had a temper but disciplined himself to exercise restraint. He had a rule that any letter he wrote in anger had to sit on his desk for twenty-four hours before deciding whether to mail it. By the end of his nearly eight years as president, his never-mailed letters filled a large desk drawer.
In this age of computer-communication, even twenty-four minutes of restraint is rare. The venom and vitriol of digital attack is a shameful stain on the keyboards of ill-mannered tappers.
James described the tongue as “full of deadly poison” (Jas 3:8).
Communicate with restraint, kind reader—with tongue, pen, and keyboard.
“A fool does not think before he unleashes his tempter, but a wise man holds back and remains quiet” (Prv 29:11).
It’s hardly ever wise to
speak when you’re angry.