Contribute to the Silence

“He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.” -Lao Tzu

“There are people who, instead of listening to what is being said to them, are already listening to what they are going to say themselves.” – Albert Guinon (1863 – 1923)

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.” – Plutarch (46 AD – 120 AD)

“It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 – 1894)

Sometimes I wonder why you feel like you have to answer for me whenever someone else asks me a question.  Maybe it’s because you think that I can’t answer for myself.  Wait…nah…that’s not it.  If it were, I suppose that you’d be capable of responding correctly, rather than shitting out of your mouth.

It must be the same reason that you feel like you have to be the one talking whenever someone else is speaking – the love of hearing the sound of your own voice.

It must be agony for you, listening to other people…wishing that they would be silent so that you can finally have your turn to talk.

Those damn fools…how was it that they didn’t realize that this is all about you?  Of course it is – it’s all about you having all of the attention…you waiting for that moment when everyone turns to you so that you can have another opportunity to regurgitate more useless information that you overheard somewhere.

Sure, it’ll make them think that you’re smart…as long as you’re talking & they’re all looking at you, they’ll never be able to see past your babbling far enough to get a glimpse of your ignorance.

That’s really what you think, isn’t it?  Or…is it just that you need all eyes on you to feel better about yourself?

The rest of us have marveled at your verbal ambush tactics – the abruptness of your interruptions when you just can’t wait for someone to shut up.

If only the voices of others were as pleasing as hearing your own.  Naturally, it only makes sense to speak louder & cut them off – make it clear to them that they’re out of line by having a conversation about a subject that you don’t understand.  Make your voice heard & steer the discussion back toward you – the only topic that matters.

The problem with those people that talk all of the time is that they never have anything to say.

It’s a greater effort, but…maybe instead of trying so hard to contribute to each & every conversation…it’d be a nice change to contribute something to the silence.

Perhaps then, we’d all listen to you a little more often.

At the very least…you wouldn’t be annoying the fuck out of everyone in the room anymore.  That’s worth something.

[tags]listening, talking, silence, lao tzu, albert guinon, plutarch, oliver wendell holmes, annoying, conversation, rant[/tags]