Page 56 - 102717-James Allen-Byways to Blessedness-flipbookversion_Neat

52 BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS

The silent acts of the Great Ones are beacons to the wise, illuminating their pathway with no
uncertain radiance, for he would attain to virtue and wisdom must learn, not only when to speak
and what to say, but also when to remain silent and what not to say. The right control of the
tongue is the beginning of wisdom; the right control of the mind is the consummation of wisdom.
By curbing his tongue a man gains possession of his mind, and to have complete possession of
one’s mind is to be a Master of Silence.
The fool babbles, gossips, argues, and bandies words. He glories in the fact that he has had the
last word and has silenced his opponent. He exults in his own folly, is ever on the defensive, and
wastes his energies in unprofitable channels. He is like a gardener who continues to dig and plant
in unproductive soil.
The wise man avoids idle words, gossip, vain argument, and self-defence. He is content to

appear defeated; rejoices when he is defeated, knowing that, having found and removed another
error in himself he has thereby become wiser. Blessed is he who does not strive for the last word!
“Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through
fog with linguists and contenders;
I have no mockings or arguments, I witness and wait”

Silence under provocation is the mark of a cultured and sympathetic soul. The thoughtless and
unkind are stirred by every slight provocation, and will lose their mental balance by even the
appearance of a personal encroachment. The self-possession of Jesus is not a miracle; it is the
flower of culture, the diadem of wisdom. When we read of Jesus that “He answered never a word”
and of Buddha that “He remained silent,” we get a glimpse of the vast power of silence, of the silent
majesty of true greatness.
The silent man is the powerful man. The victim of garrulity is devoid of influence; his spiritual
energies are dissipated. Every mechanic knows that before a force can be utilised and definitely
directed it must be conserved and stored; and the wise man is a spiritual mechanic who conserves
the energies of his mind, holds them in masterful abeyance, ready at any moment to direct them,
with effective purpose, to the accomplishment of some necessary work.
The true strength is in silentness. It is well said that “The dog that barks does not bite.” The

grim and rarely broken silence of the bull-dog is the necessary adjunct to that powerfully
concentrated and effectual action for which the animal is known and feared. This, of course, is a
lower form of silentness, but the principle is the same. The boaster fails; his mind is diverted from
the main purpose; and his energies are frittered away upon self-glorification. His forces are
divided between his task and the reward to himself, the greater portion going to feed the lust of
reward. He is like an unskilful general who loses the battle through dividing his forces instead of
concentrating them upon a point. Or he is like a careless engineer who leaves open the waste-
valve of his engine and allows the steam to run down. The modest, silent, earnest man succeeds:
freed from vanity, and avoiding the dissipation of self-glorification, all his powers are
concentrated upon the successful performance of his task. Even while the other man is talking
about his powers he is already about his work, and is so much nearer than the other to its