SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON ? A Matter of Life and Death ?
By exercising verbal restraint, one is saved from many sins: loshon hora, flattery, mockery and lying. He is also saved from verbal attack. There are numerous inestimable benefits of developing the quality of silence.
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People confide their private matters to a person who is known to guard his tongue, for he can be trusted to keep such information to himself.
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A wise man once said: ¡°When I hear someone speak evil of me, I remain silent, for I fear that would I respond in kind, I would then hear abuses that are worse than the previous ones.¡¯¡¯ Whenever a person is verbally attacked and responds in kind, the result,
invariably, is worse verbal attack.
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¡°Death and life are in the tongue¡¯s power¡± (Mishlei?18:21). The tongue can cause harm in a way that the
sword cannot. The sword can kill only through direct contact with its victim, while the tongue can bring about the ruination of someone who is miles away. Man was created with two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, but only one mouth, to indicate that he is obligated
to limit his speech, for transgression through speech can occur quite easily, and with far-reaching consequences.
