October 2
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.--PS. xvii. 3.
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.--PROV. x. 19.
Prune thou thy words; the thoughts control
That o'er thee swell and throng;
They will condense within thy soul,
And change to purpose strong.
J. H. NEWMAN.
Few men suspect how much mere talk fritters away spiritual energy,--that
which should be spent in action, spends itself in words. Hence he who
restrains that love of talk, lays up a fund of spiritual strength.
F. W. ROBERTSON.
Do not flatter yourself that your thoughts are under due control, your
desires properly regulated, or your dispositions subject as they should be
to Christian principle, if your intercourse with others consists mainly of
frivolous gossip, impertinent anecdotes, speculations on the character and
affairs of your neighbors, the repetition of former conversations, or a
discussion of the current petty scandal of society; much less, if you allow
yourself in careless exaggeration on all these points, and that grievous
inattention to exact truth, which is apt to attend the statements of those
whose conversation is made up of these materials.
H. WARE, JR.