The Respected Man’s Silence

It had been a rather stormy board meeting and some very harsh things had been said. One man-always highly respected and unusually wise in his judgments-had said nothing throughout the proceedings. Suddenly one of the leaders in the argument turned to him: “You have not said a word. I am sure we would all like to hear your opinion about this matter.” “I have discovered,” replied the quiet one, “that there are many times when silence is an opinion.” (Bits and Pieces, Sept., 1989).