A Happy New Year to All!

Simon Vouet, Father Time Overcome by Love, Hope, and Beauty (1627) 

Sayings of Ramakrishna 192

When the Malaya breeze blows, all trees, having stamina in them, become converted into sandalwood trees; but those which have no stamina remain unchanged as before, like bamboo, plantain, palm tree, and so forth. 

So when Divine Grace descends, men having the germs of piety and goodness in them are changed at once into holy beings and are filled with Divinity, but worthless and worldly men remain as before. 

Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita 55

The Blessed Lord said: 

1. Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga; almsgiving, control of the senses, Yajna, reading of the Shâstras, austerity, uprightness; 

2. Non-injury, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, tranquillity, absence of calumny, compassion to beings, un-covetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness; 

3. Boldness, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride; these belong to one born for a divine state, O descendant of Bharata. 

4. Ostentation, arrogance and self-conceit, anger as also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Pârtha, for an Asurika state. 

5. The divine state is deemed to make for liberation, the Asurika for bondage; grieve not, O Pândava, you are born for a divine state. 

6. There are two types of beings in this world, the divine and the Asurika. The divine have been described at length; hear from Me, O Pârtha, of the Asurika. 

7. The persons of Asurika nature know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither is purity found in them nor good conduct, nor truth. 

8. They say, "The universe is without truth, without a moral basis, without a God, brought about by mutual union, with lust for its cause; what else?" 

9. Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect and fierce deeds, rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction. 

10. Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they work with impure resolve. 

—Bhagavad Gita, 16:1-10 

Seneca, Moral Letters 40.7

However, I suppose that certain styles of speech are more or less suitable to nations also; in a Greek you can put up with the unrestrained style, but we Romans, even when writing, have become accustomed to separate our words. 

 

And our compatriot Cicero, with whom Roman oratory sprang into prominence, was also a slow pacer. The Roman language is more inclined to take stock of itself, to weigh, and to offer something worth weighing. 

 

Fabianus, a man noteworthy because of his life, his knowledge, and, less important than either of these, his eloquence also, used to discuss a subject with dispatch rather than with haste; hence you might call it ease rather than speed. 

 

I approve this quality in the wise man; but I do not demand it; only let his speech proceed unhampered, though I prefer that it should be deliberately uttered rather than spouted. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 40 

 

Having grown up in a bilingual family, I was fortunate to see how matters of style are often subject to accidents of custom. An Austrian will speak at a far brisker pace than an Irishman, and yet the Austrian will sound downright sleepy compared to a German. While I might still be saying hello, the other fellow has already offered a lengthy review of the day’s railway timetables. 

 

The further blessing of travels through rural America also taught me how few will take their time to make a point as slowly as an old-timer from New Hampshire or Oklahoma. Their children, having been raised on bland television personalities, are now barely distinguishable from the folks in the big cities, but mom and pop will continue to look you up and down for a good five minutes before even opening their mouths. 

 

And please don’t start me on a Texan. I ended up marrying one, and she has already finished a conversation before I know that there is something to talk about. 

 

No, fast talking and slow talking aren’t matters of the clip alone—they are about a deeper attitude of communication, the difference between being sneaky and being genuine. I only began to discern it when I finally started to work on my own moral sense, when I first looked to whether a man was a gentleman or a cad. 

 

For myself, I have chosen to focus on the contrast between dispatch and haste, between ease and speed, between deliberation and spouting. As is usually the case, Seneca’s words are far mor fitting than any I can come up with on my own. There is no shame in this, as long as I understand something of what he means, and I pass it along it with all the integrity I can muster. 

 

Observe how often we are carried along by our words, instead of being firmly in command of our words; one man is precariously perched on a horse that goes where it pleases, while the other has a skilled hand on the reins. Where I am not guided by a clear sense of meaning and purpose, my speech will run away with me, and I might not be so happy about where I then end up. 

 

However refined the vocabulary, or sweet the tones, or hypnotic the rhythm, it will come to nothing without the inspiration of wisdom. We forget this far too often, when we assume we can pull a fast one by merely going through the motions. I inevitably find myself in trouble after careless words, but I have never had reason to regret a single utterance when I took the time to think it over. 

—Reflection written in 1/2013 

IMAGE: Victor Adam, The Runaway Horse (c. 1850) 

Stoic Snippets 180

Say nothing more to yourself than what the first appearances report. 

Suppose that it has been reported to you that a certain person speaks ill of you. This has been reported; but that you have been injured, that has not been reported. 

I see that my child is sick. I do see; but that he is in danger, I do not see. 

Thus then always abide by the first appearances, and add nothing yourself from within, and then nothing happens to you. 

Or rather add something like a man who knows everything that happens in the world. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.49 

IMAGE: Eugene de Blaas, The Friendly Gossips (1901) 

Wisdom from the Early Cynics, Diogenes 15

To those who said to Diogenes, "You are an old man; take a rest," "What?" he replied, "If I were running in the stadium, ought I to slacken my pace when approaching the goal? Ought I not rather to put on speed?" 

Having been invited to a dinner, he declared that he wouldn't go; for, the last time he went, his host had not expressed a proper gratitude. 

He would walk upon snow barefoot and do the other things mentioned above. Not only so; he even attempted to eat meat raw, but could not manage to digest it. 

He once found Demosthenes the orator lunching at an inn, and, when he retired within, Diogenes said, "All the more you will be inside the tavern." 

When some strangers expressed a wish to see Demosthenes, he stretched out his middle finger and said, "There goes the demagogue of Athens." 

—Diogenes Laërtius, 6.34 

Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 55

As for the assertion made by some people that pleasure is the object to which the first impulse of animals is directed, it is shown by the Stoics to be false. 

For pleasure, if it is really felt, they declare to be a by-product, which never comes until nature by itself has sought and found the means suitable to the animal's existence or constitution; it is an aftermath comparable to the condition of animals thriving and plants in full bloom. 

And nature, they say, made no difference originally between plants and animals, for she regulates the life of plants too, in their case without impulse and sensation, just as also certain processes go on of a vegetative kind in us. 

But when in the case of animals impulse has been superadded, whereby they are enabled to go in quest of their proper aliment, for them, say the Stoics, Nature's rule is to follow the direction of impulse. 

But when reason by way of a more perfect leadership has been bestowed on the beings we call rational, for them life according to reason rightly becomes the natural life. For reason supervenes to shape impulse scientifically. 

—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.86 

Dhammapada 283, 284

Cut down the whole forest of lust, not a tree only! 

Danger comes out of the forest of lust. 

When you have cut down both the forest of lust and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free! 

So long as the love of man towards women, even the smallest, is not destroyed, so long is his mind in bondage, as the calf that drinks milk is to its mother. 

Fractals 35

Seneca, Moral Letters 40.6

You will be acting rightly, therefore, if you do not regard those men who seek how much they may say, rather than how they shall say it, and if for yourself you choose, provided a choice must be made, to speak as Publius Vinicius the stammerer does. 
 
When Asellius was asked how Vinicius spoke, he replied: "Gradually"! (It was a remark of Geminus Varius, by the way: "I don't see how you can call that man 'eloquent'; why, he can't get out three words together.") 
 
Why, then, should you not choose to speak as Vinicius does? 
 
Though of course some wag may cross your path, like the person who said, when Vinicius was dragging out his words one by one, as if he were dictating and not speaking. "Say, haven't you anything to say?" 
 
And yet that were the better choice, for the rapidity of Quintus Haterius, the most famous orator of his age, is, in my opinion, to be avoided by a man of sense. Haterius never hesitated, never paused; he made only one start, and only one stop. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 40 
 
We are so enamored of the fast talkers with their slippery words that we even think it reflects poorly on a man’s worth if he speaks in a restrained or gradual manner. Is he lazy? Perhaps he’s not quite right in the head? 
 
Yet it would be better for me to stutter like a Publius Vinicius than to be so caught up in bitterness and reproach. If I truly wish to see into the merits of a fellow’s soul, I should pay attention to the quality of what he says, not the pace at which he says it. 
 
I spent several years in grade school with a boy who struggled with stuttering, and I noticed not only how quickly people grew frustrated with his condition, as if he were deliberately doing something wrong, but also how easily he became a target of the cruelest sort of mockery. 
 
Anyone who insists that children are so innocent clearly does not remember the packs of bullies roaming about, compensating for their own insufficiencies by picking on those who were somehow different. I am still deeply ashamed by not standing up for him, and yet he never seemed to blame me after the predators had moved on to fresh victims. 
 
If I only practiced a little patience in listening to him, he had some of the most thoughtful and kind things to say. I’m afraid I don’t know what became of him, though I unfortunately still know far too much about the whereabouts of the ruffians—as adults they continue to draw attention to themselves. 
 
I can only wish that fine boy well, and while I hope he has managed with his condition, I also hope he never lost his constancy. 
 
It hadn’t changed much by college, when, in turn, a young lady with a lisp became an object of derision for the trendy crowd. As she was also hard of hearing, they would ridicule her quite openly, always demeaning her ideas by imitating her pronunciation.
 
You should not be surprised to learn how these are now among the same folks who claim to be champions of equity and inclusion in the worlds of business and academia. No, they haven’t changed—they are just as glib as they always were. 
 
If push comes to shove, choose to be a Publius Vinicius instead of a Quintus Haterius. Your conscience will thank you. 

—Reflection written in 1/2013 

IMAGE: Jan Steen, Children Teasing a Cat (c. 1650) 

Sayings of Publilius Syrus 95

There is but a step between a proud man's glory and his disgrace. 

Michael Leunig 44

Seneca, Moral Letters 40.5

What then?" you say; "should not philosophy sometimes take a loftier tone?" 
 
Of course she should; but dignity of character should be preserved, and this is stripped away by such violent and excessive force. Let philosophy possess great forces, but kept well under control; let her stream flow unceasingly, but never become a torrent. 
 
And I should hardly allow even to an orator a rapidity of speech like this, which cannot be called back, which goes lawlessly ahead; for how could it be followed by jurors, who are often inexperienced and untrained? 
 
Even when the orator is carried away by his desire to show off his powers, or by uncontrollable emotion, even then he should not quicken his pace and heap up words to an extent greater than the ear can endure. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 40 
 
Yes, I do sometimes find it difficult to distinguish between elegant language and blubbery language; as swiftly as I claim to detect it in others, I am often hesitant to admit it in myself. 
 
The intention clearly plays a role, whether I wish to educate or manipulate, clarify or confuse, and yet the motive is blind without the direction of awareness. If I know of what I speak, I will not have to make exaggerated gestures or jump up and down. If I comprehend the truth of the matter, I do not require parlor tricks and sleight of hand. 
 
The loftiness of the words will be in purity of their origins; the dignity of speech is a consequence of the wisdom that stands behind it. I have known many people babble on and ramble on about things they know to be untrue, while I don’t think I have ever heard someone fail to make his point if he is sincerely willing to die for it. 
 
Just as form follows function, so style follows character. 
 
As much as I try to learn about contemporary norms of marketing, I am always met with blank faces when I ask about whether they are right or wrong. The most helpful response I ever received was “If it moves the product, you’ve done it right.” 
 
Now I may not agree with the underlying premise, but I respect the honesty. Where some see a spectrum from virtue to vice, others see a difference between riches and poverty. 
 
I’m not sure, however, why the practice of fast talking or the shifty deal should have a place in any model. Where did we get the assumption that profit and candor must be at odds? I suppose it will only happen if we care far more for the former than we do for the latter. 
 
Similarly, I have been called to jury duty far more often than can ever make sense statistically, and each time I have managed to make a fuss. 
 
“Yes, your honor, I do have a bias in this case. Simply by observing how they pander to you, I have a sneaking suspicion that both lawyers involved have the gift of the gab, and I’m pretty sure they will try to pull a fast one on the jury. They are slick and they are quick. I wouldn’t buy a car from either of them, and so I certainly wouldn’t trust them to make a case in a matter of justice.” 
 
Some judges grinned, others yelled at me, but I’ll be damned if I let either fast talking or bullying tell me how to inform my conscience. 
 
Just as a decent man has a hunch when a nude is art and when it is pornography, so a decent man discerns noble rhetoric from disgraceful sophistry. Spending some solid time on the habits of judgment will allow me to catch the fast talker. 
 

It isn’t about fancy words or common words, and it isn’t about more words or fewer words—it’s about heeding a moral compass from the get-go. 

—Reflection written in 1/2013 

IMAGE: Anonymous, A Roman Orator (c. 1850) 

Delphic Maxims 4

Γονεῖς αἰδοῦ 

Respect parents 

IMAGE: Athenian funerary stele, Dead Man Leaving His Son (c. 400 BC) 

Xenophon, Memorabilia of Socrates 17

It may serve to illustrate the assertion that Socrates benefited his associates partly by the display of his own virtue and partly by verbal discourse and argument, if I set down my various recollections on these heads. 

And first with regard to religion and the concerns of heaven. In conduct and language his behavior conformed to the rule laid down by the Pythia in reply to the question, "How shall we act?" as touching a sacrifice or the worship of ancestors, or any similar point. 

Her answer is: "Act according to the law and custom of your state, and you will act piously." 

After this pattern Socrates behaved himself, and so he exhorted others to behave, holding them to be but busybodies and vain fellows who acted on any different principle. 

His formula or prayer was simple: "Give me that which is best for me," for, said he, the gods know best what good things are—to pray for gold or silver or despotic power were no better than to make some particular throw at dice or stake in battle or any such thing the subject of prayer, of which the future consequences are manifestly uncertain. 

If with scant means he offered but small sacrifices he believed that he was in no wise inferior to those who make frequent and large sacrifices from an ampler store. It were ill surely for the very gods themselves, could they take delight in large sacrifices rather than in small, else oftentimes must the offerings of bad men be found acceptable rather than of good; nor from the point of view of men themselves would life be worth living if the offerings of a villain rather than of a righteous man found favor in the sight of Heaven. 

His belief was that the joy of the gods is greater in proportion to the holiness of the giver, and he was ever an admirer of that line of Hesiod which says, 

"According to thine ability do sacrifice to the immortal gods." 

"Yes," he would say, "in our dealings with friends and strangers alike, and in reference to the demands of life in general, there is no better motto for a man than that: 'let a man do according to his ability.'"

Or to take another point. If it appeared to him that a sign from heaven had been given him, nothing would have induced him to go against heavenly warning: he would as soon have been persuaded to accept the guidance of a blind man ignorant of the path to lead him on a journey in place of one who knew the road and could see; and so he denounced the folly of others who do things contrary to the warnings of God in order to avoid some disrepute among men. 

For himself he despised all human aids by comparison with counsel from above.

The habit and style of living to which he subjected his soul and body was one which under ordinary circumstances would enable anyone adopting it to look existence cheerily in the face and to pass his days serenely: it would certainly entail no difficulties as regards expense. 

So frugal was it that a man must work little indeed who could not earn the quantum which contented Socrates. Of food he took just enough to make eating a pleasure—the appetite he brought to it was sauce sufficient; while as to drinks, seeing that he only drank when thirsty, any draught refreshed. 

If he accepted an invitation to dinner, he had no difficulty in avoiding the common snare of over-indulgence, and his advice to people who could not equally control their appetite was to avoid taking what would allure them to eat if not hungry or to drink if not thirsty. 

Such things are ruinous to the constitution, he said, bad for stomachs, brains, and soul alike; or as he used to put it, with a touch of sarcasm, "It must have been by feasting men on so many dainty dishes that Circe produced her pigs; only Odysseus through his continency and the 'promptings of Hermes' abstained from touching them immoderately, and by the same token did not turn into a swine." 

So much for this topic, which he touched thus lightly and yet seriously. 

—from Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.3 

Seneca, Moral Letters 40.4

Besides, this sort of speech contains a great deal of sheer emptiness; it has more sound than power. My terrors should be quieted, my irritations soothed, my illusions shaken off, my indulgences checked, my greed rebuked. And which of these cures can be brought about in a hurry? What physician can heal his patient on a flying visit? 
 
May I add that such a jargon of confused and ill-chosen words cannot afford pleasure, either? No; but just as you are well satisfied, in the majority of cases, to have seen through tricks which you did not think could possibly be done, so in the case of these word-gymnasts—to have heard them once is amply sufficient. 
 
For what can a man desire to learn or to imitate in them? What is he to think of their souls, when their speech is sent into the charge in utter disorder, and cannot be kept in hand? 

 

Just as, when you run downhill, you cannot stop at the point where you had decided to stop, but your steps are carried along by the momentum of your body and are borne beyond the place where you wished to halt; so this speed of speech has no control over itself, nor is it seemly for philosophy; since philosophy should carefully place her words, not fling them out, and should proceed step by step. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 40  
 
A problem with “fast” speech is not only that it comes so hurriedly, but also that it has no substance behind it, much like fast food. There may be an immediate appeal to the senses, though after an act of voracious consumption there has been no process of nutrition. Yes, the alluring aroma of french fries has something in common with the slick words of the huckster. 
 
Full of sound fury, signifying nothing? 
 
Even as the attraction is supposedly in the instant gratification, it turns out not to be as “fun” as I might have wished. It may arrive with force, and yet it is blunt, and it does not go deep, and it passes as quickly as it came. 
 
After the fleeting diversion, a longing still remains, and while the fool is driven to fall for the same impulse again and again, the wise man has already untangled the cunning illusion. There is no real joy in it, because there is no truth in it. 
 
I neither wish to be like the trickster, who only deals in images, nor do I wish to be his victim, who surrenders his self-control for idle fancies. In either case, there is a betrayal of integrity, such that I wonder if we all know how we are playing one another, but are afraid to finally admit it, to proclaim that the emperor has no clothes. 
 
The example of recklessly running downhill is quite fitting, one I remember from a time when I was oblivious to the prospect of any injury to the body. Now I am more careful about where I step with my feet, and yet I have been slower to learn about the consequences of my ill-chosen words. 
 
A passion points me in a certain direction, and before I know it, I am swept away by my disregard. It is compounded by then feeling indignant and defensive about my blunder, like a cat pretending it meant to run into the glass. 
 

A philosopher won’t use his words irresponsibly, and so he won’t be consumed by any regret for his impetuous utterances. He works to say it right the first time, however much time and effort it may take. 

—Reflection written in 1/2013 

 

The Nativity

William Blake, The Nativity (c. 1800) 

Liberation

M.C. Escher, Liberation (1955) 

Howard Jones, Human's Lib 7

I used to worry about why the most clever, educated, and fashionable people seemed to be the most cynical people, why they were more likely to roll their eyes and snort in disgust than to offer a smile and a gentle word of encouragement. Did getting a lay of the land require being consumed by bitterness? 

It turned out I was confusing cleverness with wisdom, education with learning, and fashion with truth. Love is the natural consequence of awareness, not hatred. To know something, or more importantly to know someone, is to bow down in respect. 

While events will unfold of their own accord, my own thinking about them will determine everything about my response. What do I see in another person? Do I gripe about his mistakes, or do I get to work on fixing my own? When I insist that all is lost, am I including myself by giving up the ghost? 

Those fights in the playground yards Mr. Jones refers to, and which the pundits will brush off as statistically irrelevant, are actually the root of our problems, aren't they? From little things come big things, from petty vindictiveness comes uncontrollable rage. 

I have come to trust a man who manages the details of his affairs with decency, for it suggests he will also do well on the grand stage. I also can't help but notice how a caring child is more likely to grow into a responsible adult. 

To use the "glass half empty/glass half full" analogy sounds tiresome, and yet there is merit to focusing on the good while forgiving the evil. 

Rain? I do need it for my garden. Wind? I become stronger by walking into it. All sorts of charlatans and tyrants? They offer me a chance to do right, to suggest a different way. 

—4/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2iQbj-UlJI&list=OLAK5uy_lFedI4jW6TKDjvu-C8M34duwjnJ3RlL3M&index=13 

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_WXhcnKzxk&list=OLAK5uy_lFedI4jW6TKDjvu-C8M34duwjnJ3RlL3M&index=14 

Howard Jones, "Don't Always Look at the Rain" from Human's Lib (1984) 

Some people I know have given up on their lives
Drowning their sorrows, and mumblin', and forgot the fight
We can tip the balance we can break those barriers down
Little things count as much as the big and turn it all around

And it's oh, don't always look at the rain
No, don't look at the rain

Some people I know have lost their feel for mystery
They say everything has got to be proved, this isn't a nursery
And Joseph who's five years old, stops fights in his playground yard
No more fights and bigotry, oh is it so hard

And it's oh, don't always look at the rain
No, don't always look at the rain
Ha, don't always look at the rain

And tell me, is it a crime to have an ideal or two
Evolving takes it's time, we can't do it all in one go
Doesn't have to drive us all mad, we can only do our best
Let the mind shut up, and the heart do the rest 

Sayings of Ramakrishna 191

The darkness of centuries is dispersed at once as soon as a light is brought into the room. 

The accumulated ignorances and misdoings of innumerable births vanish before the single glance of the Almighty's gracious look. 

IMAGE by Daniel Regan 

Seneca, Moral Letters 40.3

Therefore, mark my words; that forceful manner of speech, rapid and copious, is more suited to a mountebank than to a man who is discussing and teaching an important and serious subject. 
 
But I object just as strongly that he should drip out his words as that he should go at top speed; he should neither keep the ear on the stretch, nor deafen it. For that poverty-stricken and thin-spun style also makes the audience less attentive because they are weary of its stammering slowness; nevertheless, the word which has been long awaited sinks in more easily than the word which flits past us on the wing. 
 
Finally, people speak of "handing down" precepts to their pupils; but one is not "handing down" that which eludes the grasp. 
 
Besides, speech that deals with the truth should be unadorned and plain. This popular style has nothing to do with the truth; its aim is to impress the common herd, to ravish heedless ears by its speed; it does not offer itself for discussion, but snatches itself away from discussion. 
 
But how can that speech govern others which cannot itself be governed? May I not also remark that all speech which is employed for the purpose of healing our minds, ought to sink into us? Remedies do not avail unless they remain in the system. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 40 
 
Hold your horses! There is too much, and then there is too little. The Classical model of life understands how the mean lies, sometimes rather precariously, between two extremes. The delicate balance of a virtue is at threat from either side of excess and deficiency. 
 
On the one hand there is the braggart, and on the other there is the boor. I occasionally worry that my Aristotelian and Thomist training gets in the way of my Stoic practice, and then I remember that tribalism has no place in the love of truth.
 
Am I now more like the tortoise than I am like the hare? I only know I need to get the job done, and I prefer to err on the side of caution instead of rushing in without any due diligence. From speaking like a 33 at 45 rpm, I suppose I have ended up sounding terribly sleepy. I’m still working at it. 
 
Nevertheless, give me the quiet man over the rambling man on any day. I believe it was Emily Dickinson who feared a man of frugal speech, for she feared he might be grand. 
 
Seneca was a man of refined rhetoric, and that is something I have not yet mastered. Will it someday come to me? Perhaps, though I must work on the essentials first. No one can preach with any confidence about the virtues he has not yet mastered; note how often we get the order backwards. 
 
Teachers of all sorts will go on about how well they “personally relate” to their students, and so we have sadly ended up with education as a kind of popularity contest, where the best actors get tenure. I’m now fine with being the tortoise, and having Bugs Bunny laugh at me for my sluggishness. 
 
Remember, slow and steady wins the race. Aiming for character is the only race that matters. 
 
Ah, “mountebank!” Now there’s a word that needs to come back, along with charlatan, scoundrel, caitiff, blackguard, and demagogue. I would even be content with hearing about rascals. When we have no distinction between right and wrong, all the words are reduced to a warm and fuzzy mediocrity. 
 
We’d all like to be saints, without admitting there are any sinners. 

—Reflection written in 1/2013 

A Meeting

Death Chasing the Flock of Mortals

James Ensor, Death Chasing the Flock of Mortals (1896) 

Stoic Snippets 179

Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible, when self-collected it is satisfied with itself, if it does nothing which it does not choose to do, even if it resists from mere obstinacy. 

What then will it be when it forms a judgment about anything aided by reason and deliberately? 

Therefore the mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and for the future be inexpugnable. 

He then who has not seen this is an ignorant man; but he who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.48 

The Wisdom of Solomon 15:18-19

[18] The enemies of your people worship even the
most hateful animals,
which are worse than all others, when judged
by their lack of intelligence;
[19] and even as animals they are not so beautiful
in appearance that one would desire them,
but they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing. 

Seneca, Moral Letters 40.2

You write me that you heard a lecture by the philosopher Serapio, when he landed at your present place of residence. 
 
"He is wont," you say, "to wrench up his words with a mighty rush, and he does not let them flow forth one by one, but makes them crowd and dash upon each other. For the words come in such quantity that a single voice is inadequate to utter them." 
 
I do not approve of this in a philosopher; his speech, like his life, should be composed; and nothing that rushes headlong and is hurried is well ordered. 
 
That is why, in Homer, the rapid style, which sweeps down without a break like a snowsquall, is assigned to the younger speaker; from the old man eloquence flows gently, sweeter than honey. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 40 
 
I can’t find a single reference to this Serapio, and none of the editions of Seneca’s Letters on my shelf offer any suggestions. That’s quite alright, because philosophy shouldn’t be about becoming famous, for the good philosopher finds his joy in living well, simply for its own sake. 
 
But was Serapio actually a good philosopher? While I should never make that fatal mistake of confusing style with substance, to what extent does the way a man chooses to express himself reflect upon his inner character? The outer appearance is hardly the cause of the inner disposition, though the former can reveal much as an effect proceeding from the latter. 
 
It would seem that Serapio spoke profusely, hurriedly, and sloppily, which is hardly uncommon among those who seek out an audience. While the underlying motives, habits, and circumstances will vary, the presence of lazy language should be a warning to look out for lazy thinking, and if a man has difficulty in ordering his words and actions, there is a good chance he needs to work on ordering his reason. 
 
I obviously can’t speak for Serapio, and so I examine myself. When I was younger, in those hectic teenage years, I had a problem with blurting out the first thing that came into my head. It was only the rigorous exercise of self-reflection that permitted me to slowly adjust this harmful reaction, as I realized that there must be clear apprehension, true judgment, and sound demonstration before there can be any meaningful expression. 
 
If this requires some time, then so be it; those unwilling to wait are probably not ready to listen. I find it odd that people now joke about my moments of silence instead of my passionate interruptions. 
 
Even as I grew older, and it became apparent I was being asked to become a teacher, I noticed how I had a frustrating tendency to speak far too quickly. Now I may have thought an idea over carefully, but there was still a torrent of words once I decided to have my say. It was impossible for anyone to take notes or consider what I was suggesting with all the nervous gushing. 
 
And there was the key, the awareness that my anxiety about being in front of people made me rush through the task of being put on the spot. For all the tricks of rhetoric, what ultimately helped me was learning to manage my fear of a crowd, to accept that my worth did not rise or fall with their smiles or frowns. Speak with patience and charity, but speak the truth. It’s the old Stoic advice: modify the attitude, and you modify the outcome. 
 
Before reading this passage from Seneca, it had never occurred to me how Homer wrote his characters to communicate with such different styles. I now see the pattern more easily, not just in literature but also in daily life, where unbridled passion is frantic and hard-earned wisdom is serene. 
 
A calm and balanced mind will have a calm and balanced voice. 

—Reflection written in 1/2013 

Dhammapada 280-282

He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to knowledge.

Watching his speech, well restrained in mind, let a man never commit any wrong with his body! Let a man but keep these three roads of action clear, and he will achieve the way which is taught by the wise. 

Through zeal knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow. 

The Art of Peace 93

In your training do not be in a hurry, for it takes a minimum of ten years to master the basics and advance to the first rung. 

Never think of yourself as an all-knowing, perfected master; you must continue to train daily with your friends and students and progress together in the Art of Peace.