The gift of silence

When the lips are closed,

then the heart begins to speak;

when the heart is silent,

then the soul blazes up,

bursting into flame,

and this illuminates the whole of life.

--Hazrat Inayat Khan--

An old Sufi tradition advises us to speak 

only after our words have managed 

to pass through four gates. 

At the first gate, we ask ourselves, 

"Are these words true?" 

If so, we let them pass on; if not, back they go. 

At the second gate we ask; "Are they necessary?" 

At the third gate we ask; "Are they beneficial?" 

and at the fourth gate, we ask, "Are they kind?" 

If the answer to any of these is no, 

then what you are about to say should be left unsaid. 

-- An old Sufi saying --