Proverbs 10:14 · World English Bible
Proverbs 10:14 Meaning Wise Men Lay Up Knowledge
Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.
What does Proverbs 10:14 mean?
A mind at peace gathers quietly and keeps what is true, needing to prove nothing and defend nothing, so it stands unshaken when the world grows loud. The frightened mind, sure that safety lies in speaking first and striking first, spends itself in noise and finds ruin waiting close, because attack always returns to the one who launched it.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 10:14 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
A mind at peace gathers quietly and keeps what is true, needing to prove nothing and defend nothing, so it stands unshaken when the world grows loud. The frightened mind, sure that safety lies in speaking first and striking first, spends itself in noise and finds ruin waiting close, because attack always returns to the one who launched it.
What destroys is never outside. It is the belief in separation spilling out as words that wound, and every such word teaches the mind that spoke it that it too can be wounded. The correction is to stop, to keep still, and to let the other teacher answer instead.
Mouth: the mind pouring itself outward in haste, the opening through which fear rushes to attack before love can be heard.
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Live Proverbs 10:14 today
- When something irritates you online today, write the reply if you need to, then close the tab without posting it. The impulse passes in about two minutes and you will not miss what you did not send.
- In your next real conversation, hold back the thing you were preparing to say while the other person was still talking. Let there be a short pause before you answer, and see what shows up in it.
- When a group chat gets heated, be the one who stays quiet for an hour. Your silence is not agreement, and it often does more to cool things than the measured paragraph would have.
What have I said this week that I wish I had kept?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching 56
Those who know do not talk, and those who talk do not know. The mouth kept shut and the senses closed is where strength is stored.
Stoicism · Zeno of Citium
We have two ears and one mouth so that we may listen more and speak less. What is learned shows in conduct, not in announcement.
Judaism · Pirkei Avot
Say little and do much. A fence around wisdom is silence, and nothing has ever been improved by rushing it into speech.
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