A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing. (John Tillotson)
I laughed out loud when I read this quote. It is such an easy thing not to speak ill of others yet so few actually keep their mouths shut. Why is silence such a hard price to pay for so many? Is it pride? I think it is our ego and pride that won’t allow us to just zip it. I’ve met people who you had to practically drag a compliment out of them, but they’d be the first to put in their negative feedback. I don’t get that. Are we hard-wired to easily speak ill of others but only speak in a positive way (make someone feel good) on rare occasions? Hmm, this one will have me thinking for a while. However, I am definitely going to try to tell more people something good (especially strangers) and speak a lot less negative criticism. After all, speaking ill really only hurts the person who spoke it.
