Ethics In James Owen's 'Talk Less And Say More'

Learning How to Listen In the modern culture and society, humans often take silence as something awkward and to be avoided at all costs. It is almost like every American has been brought up learning that quiet spaces in conversations are taboo and that no one enjoys an individual who cannot hold a conversation. The issue with this concept is that people are talking way too often and the words coming out of their mouth more often than not, hold absolutely no merit. In James Owen’s book Cowboy Ethics, he describes ten principles to live by and the most significant one on the list is “Talk Less and Say More”. There are a vast amount of things that can be taught through this principle that are often overlooked and unappreciated. The idea of

Nearly every individual has been wronged or hurt by the words of a friend or family member. The person who spits venom in a fit of rage may apologize, however sorry cannot fix everything. The words that humans speak are set in stone and it is a natural flaw of humanity that nearly everyone speaks without thinking how it can affect others. For example, jokingly bullying someone is still a poor choice as the victim stills feels bad about the joke. Those jokes are pointless, yet the person at the end of the joke has to question if it truly was a joke, or if there is actually something wrong with them. These kind of negative thoughts are planted like seeds into one’s mind and with every seemingly harmless joke, the he or she begins to slowly see his or herself as worthless. Everyone’s words hold value to another person, so do not speak unless the words coming out have merit and are fully meant. It is not difficult to think before speaking and to have respect for others. This concept of talk less, say more, has slowly disappeared in American culture and it is essential to being a decent human being. Imagine how positive and happy everyone would be if they only received uplifting and kind