Greco-Christian stream·The Imitation of Christ·Book I — Admonitions Profitable for the Spiritual Life·Chapter X. Of The Danger Of Superfluity Of Words
X. The danger of superfluity of words
On the discipline of speech. Avoid the tumult of men as much as thou canst, for the conferences of secular affairs greatly hinder, although they are spoken of with sincere intention. The cost of much talking; the gain of silent recollection.
Source context
- Theme
- danger of idle and excessive speech as an obstacle to inner spiritual development
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Hesychast tradition (Eastern Orthodox)Hesychast practice prescribes guarding of the mouth (nepsis) as a prerequisite for inner silence and unceasing prayer, structurally parallel to Kempis's warning that superfluous words scatter the soul's attention.
- Pythagorean disciplinePythagorean novices observed years of enforced silence as training in self-mastery, treating speech-restraint as the foundational ethical and cognitive discipline — a cross-tradition congruence with the chapter's insistence that few words preserve spiritual integrity.
- Sufi adab (courtesy-ethics)Sufi adab literature, particularly in the tradition of al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din, catalogues idle speech (laghw) as a source of spiritual harm and prescribes deliberate silence as a means of purifying the heart — a cross-tradition congruence with Kempis's structurally identical caution.
Chapter X. Of The Danger Of Superfluity Of Words
OF THE DANGER OF SUPERFLUITY OF WORDS
Avoid as far as thou canst the tumult of men; for talk concerning worldly things, though it be innocently undertaken, is a hindrance, so quickly are we led captive and defiled by vanity. Many a time I wish that I had held my peace, and had not gone amongst men. But why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely resume our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? We like talking so much because we hope by our conversations to gain some mutual comfort, and because we seek to refresh our wearied spirits by variety of thoughts. And we very willingly talk and think of those things which we love or desire, or else of those which we most dislike.
2But alas! it is often to no purpose and in vain. For this outward consolation is no small hindrance to the inner comfort which cometh from God. Therefore must we watch and pray that time pass not idly away. If it be right and desirable for thee to speak, speak things which are to edification. Evil custom and neglect of our real profit tend much to make us heedless of watching over our lips. Nevertheless, devout conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to spiritual progress, most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit find their ground of fellowship in God.
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