A Calm Storm

The blog of Sholeh Samadani Munion

Timely utterance

“How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to which not even the remotest allusions can be made! How manifold are the truths which must remain unuttered until the appointed time is come! Even as it hath been said: ‘Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it.’
-Baha’u’llah, Gleanings

That is often the trickiest thing, isn’t it?

sholeh

5 thoughts on “Timely utterance

  1. definitely a great quote, and one which never fails to boggle my mind. upon reflection there seems to be an almost infinite number of ways to apply it. infinitely simple. infinitely complex. yes, i think i see why you like it.

  2. hmmm….

    of course this applies a lot in everyday life. it’s always like doing a complex equation when you’re talking to someone. for me, it’s often a combination of gut feeling and analysis of the person i’m talking to (or the person sitting next to us who’s listening)

    listening is key.

    i’ve screwed this one up and really regretted it.

    writing online is something i’m trying to get a feel for. you never know who’s going to read what you write or where it’ll end up. you also are unable to see your audience, unable to gauge beliefs, reactions to what’s said, etc.

    if i’m addressing a person online (ie commenting on a post) i usually try to find out about that person before i comment. what i choose to say has a lot to do with where i think that person is coming from.

    of course timing is almost thrown out the window with communicating over the web.

    this subject is always a riddle to me.

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