The Prophet

On Talking

· 2 min read

And then a scholar said, Speak of Talking.

And he answered, saying:

You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;

And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.

And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.

For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.

There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.

For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.

The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.

And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.

And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words.

In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.

When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue.

Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear;

When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue.

For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered

When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more.

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In brief

Talk begins when a person is no longer at peace with their own thoughts. Read the summaryHide the summary

Talk begins when a person is no longer at peace with their own thoughts. When the heart can no longer bear its own solitude, a person moves out into the lips, and sound turns into diversion. Gibran holds that much talking half murders thinking, because thought is a bird of space that may spread its wings inside a cage of words but cannot fly there. He then names those who speak. Some look for talkative company because they fear being alone, since silence shows them their naked selves. Some reveal a truth they do not understand. Some carry truth within and never put it into words, and in them the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence. The chapter closes with the right use of speech. When friends meet, the spirit within should move the lips, so that the voice within the voice speaks to the ear of the other's ear. What is spoken from the heart in this way is kept by the soul, as the taste of wine is remembered after the colour is forgotten and the vessel is gone.

Key ideas

  • Talk often begins where inner peace with one's own thoughts ends.
  • Gibran teaches that words can cage thought, letting it unfold its wings but never fly.
  • The fear of being alone drives people toward talkative company, because silence shows them their naked selves.
  • Truth can live in a person as rhythmic silence without ever being spoken.
  • True speech lets the spirit move the tongue, so that the voice within the voice reaches the ear of the other's ear.
  • What passes from heart to heart outlasts the words that carried it, as the taste of wine outlasts the vessel.

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