Musonius Rufus, Fragments 26

One begins to lose his hesitation to do unseemly things when one loses his hesitation to speak of them.

 

The careless use of bad language is not just some offense against prissy manners; the words that come out of our mouths truly reflect what is within our hearts and minds. 

 

The ubiquitous “f-bomb”, for example, is currently a necessary part of many people’s vocabulary, even in increasingly formal circles, and I can only wonder why we feel the need to use it so often. 

 

I do know that whenever I have drawn on it in conversation, it is intended to impress, to intimidate, to shock, or even just to conform. I am shamefully aware that none of those are ever good reasons to speak in a certain way. 

 

My mention of the sex act isn’t a problem, though my referencing it in a crude and animalistic way does indeed say something about my sense of right and wrong, or, more properly, the absence of my sense of right and wrong. There is a very thin line between saying and doing. 

 

The libertarian in me, even the anarchist in me, is not fond of others telling me how to think or to speak. It’s rather my own job to do that for myself. 

 

I know it sounds terribly uncool, but I’m afraid that the person who constantly uses nasty words will almost invariably also have a nasty soul to go along with it.