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Blaise Pascal 1640 (the truly enlightened man….’when in a room where other men are talking….can keep his mouth shut’ I talk too much. I know this to be true because my wife tells me often and she is always right. Even when she's wrong she is right. There's a big belna in our kitchen that holds this to be true. I also know it to be true because this aspect of my nature conflicts greatly with the minimalist tastes that govern the rest of my life. There’s a movie that is in my all-time top 10…seen it maybe a 100 times or more over the years. It’s a steely-greyed French noir from the 1960’s and stars Alain Delon: The Samourai. Not much is said in this movie. Not much is needed. The atmosphere, setting, cinematography and natural everyday sounds say all that is needed to be said. I’m sure the lead in the film does say a few things but, despite seeing the movie numerous times, I honestly cannot remember what he says or even what he sounds like. I hadn’t notice because his silence was more powerful. Alan Partridge ‘You cannot stop my chat’ As Philip of Macedon was conquering Greek states left right and centre only the Spartan kingdom of Laconia remained. Philip knew that the Spartans practice verbal austerity and so in the letter he sent to the Spartans he limited his threats into one sentence, thinking he would out-spartan the Spartans: ‘If I invade Laconia you will be destroyed, never to rise again’. The Spartans sent their response. Just one word: ‘If’ With one word, they sent shivers down the spine. Philip steered well clear of the Spartans. Another Spartan example is the anecdote of a sophist who proposed to give a speech in praise of Hercules. The Spartan king Antalcidas, said of the proposal; ‘Who blames him ?’. Now, as one who is often misunderstood on this forum I know that the true nature of this one sentence wouldn’t be easily understood by many here but essentially, with those 3 words, he had managed to convey the fact that we only blame what some others praise and we only praise what some others blame. In other words, both blame and praise are two sides of the same coin. The Mighty Diamonds ‘chatty chatty mouth…..you been running yer mout’ again’ So that’s my plan from now on; Practice verbal austerity in all aspects of my life. On forums such as this, if I can post a message by using a laconic phrase than good. If it can’t be said with a short and sweet word or two than they probably means it isn’t worth saying. So I won’t say it. And thus ends my last message as a bigmouth. Verbal austerity begins.