Still Waters

"Intelligence is like a river--the deeper it is, the less noise it makes." Harold Hayden

I don't know who Harold Hayden is, but I found this quote in a booklet on an obscure shelf in a corner nook of my dad's kitchen. (Just try stringing together four prepositional phrases like that!)

The booklet is one of those collections of old timey wit and wisdom (and misspelled words). The title of which is "From the Dust of Time--Grandma's Remedie's (sic), Old Medical Remedie's (sic) For All Old Deseases (sic), 1880 Barber Shop and Beauty Shop Recipes, Sure Cures and Some not so Sure" by Dorothy Gaylean.

Ha! I just read the back of the book where the author addresses the spelling errors in the book. She says, "No, the spelling is not a joke. I can't spell worth a damn." I was one of those who did indeed think the spelling was a joke.

The book is full of what you might expect from something with such a title, and it amused me for a bit. However, scattered among the recipes for such things as blood purifiers, homemade cough drops and gunpowder are quotes such as the one at the top of this post.

That quote totally jumped off the page at me. (Notice I said "totally" not "literally.") There is another related quote that I remember a teacher from high school using. It was something like, "Better to keep your mouth shut and let others think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

AND, come to think about it, there is a verse in Proverbs, I believe, that says, "In a multitude of words, there wanteth not sin."

I've known people who are not necessarily introverted, just a bit on the taciturn side. People who are usually taking in the conversation around them, but are not quick to jump into it and offer their opinion. They are quick to hear and slow to speak, but when they do speak, what they say is worth hearing. Just like still waters, they run deep and make little noise.

Talking too much is usually never a good thing. I've been there, done that and dug myself some pretty good holes.

I'd much rather be like still waters--deep and noiseless.