Better Left Unsaid

“Cato practiced the kind of public speech capable of moving the masses, believing proper political philosophy takes care like any great city to maintain the warlike element. But he was never seen practicing in front of others, and no one ever heard him rehearse a speech. When he was told that people blamed him for his silence, he replied, “Better they not blame my life. I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid.”

PLUTARCH, CATO THE YOUNGER, 4

It’s easy to give the people what they want. When the mob roars, you know what they want — and it’s very obvious. But that doesn’t mean we should give them what they’re clamoring for. Today’s quote and today’s page in The Daily Stoic are all about Cato, and his penchant for taking his sweet time to speak. It served him well, and we can learn from him.

Not everything is worth saying out loud. Only a fool thinks all of their random thoughts are valuable enough to blurt out in verbal form. The wise know that we need to filter our thoughts through our careful consideration — and to consider whether some things are better left unsaid.

To have this kind of power requires a certain level of awareness — that you are not a puppet and you don’t have to answer to the whims of popular opinion. That you can stand up to the sway of what society says you should do, and instead apply your calm honesty and do what you know is right. Sometimes that’s unpopular — and that’s okay. You have to be alright with that.

Cato was alright with being unpopular in that sense; with driving the people nuts with his slow deliberation, with his understanding that something things need to be left unsaid. It served him well. Will it do the same for you?

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