Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.31

Speak both in the Senate and to every man, whoever he may be, appropriately, not with any affectation. Use plain discourse.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 8 (tr Long)

Sometimes I am drawn to fancy words because I think that their beauty and grace will help me to discover the truth. But more often than not, I am drawn to fancy words because they allow me to seem clever while also hedging my bets, or to sound really good without really being good at all.

Language is like any tool, capable of being used for right, as much as it can be abused for wrong. Give me reason, and give me speech, and I will find all sorts of ways to be noble or base, divine or brutal. The value of words is only as good as the value of the character behind the words; what I say matters only in relation to what I honestly intend.

Affectation is never honest, because it seeks to impress. It becomes a game, where the players all know they didn’t mean a single thing they said, even as they will proudly insist on their own integrity. It is language for appearance, never for content, and it is expression for the sake of winning approval, never for the sake of doing what is right.

It is hypocrisy, plain and simple. It is sadly the way of the go-getter, who will gladly condemn others as hypocrites, while he is a hypocrite himself. It is lying in the worst sense, not out of panic, fear, or immediate convenience, but out of coldly calculated self-interest.

With the prevalence of all of that, how can I possibly tell the difference between honesty and deceit, whether in others or in myself? Old phrases are as good a test as any:

Put your money where your mouth is. Walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. Actions speak louder than words.

Whenever I prate on about justice, and decency, and respect, whatever I say will only be as powerful as what I do. How often have I seen the self-righteous say one thing, and then do another? That’s a poor measure, however, because that’s all about other people. How often, more properly, have I myself said one thing, and then done another?

Fancy words will only tempt me to be drawn to grandstanding instead of commitment. I can make the package as attractive as I like, but if the content is manure, it still remains manure.

So let me keep the words as simple, direct, and unassuming as they can possibly be. Let me also make the deeds as sincere, committed, and loving as they can possibly be. Whether it looks good should be completely secondary to whether it is good. 

Written in 4/2008