A fool utters all his mind: but a wise man keeps it in till afterwards.
Read Chapter 29
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
Let the impatient be told what is also said by Solomon: “A fool utters all his mind; a wise man defers and keeps it till afterwards.” Under the impulse of impatience the whole spirit exposes itself, and its turbulence drives it out the more speedily, in that there is no interior discipline of wisdom to keep it in. The wise person, on the other hand, keeps back and lets the future take care of matters. When he is wronged, he does not wish to avenge himself at once, because in his forbearance he wishes others to be spared, though he is not ignorant of the fact that all things are punished justly at the last judgment. .
It behooves us, therefore, to contain every movement of wrath and to temper it with discretion as our guide lest, overcome with rage, we be swept up into what is condemned by Solomon: “The wicked person expends his anger all at once, but the wise person dispenses it gradually.” That is to say, in the heat of his anger the fool is inflamed to revenge himself, but by mature deliberation and moderation the wise person slowly diminishes and releases his. .
