The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers

Yesterday, I did a presentation on managing the caregiver role at Goodman’s Furniture, thanks to an invitation from Sharyl Price of the Caregivers Resource Institute.  One topic touched on was the challenge of intra-family communication when adult children are under the stress of caregiving for a parent of deteriorating health and diminishing capacity.

That discussion brought to mind the challenge of human communication in general and the following Arab proverb a friend shared with me awhile ago.

“The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers. “
  

The first gatekeeper asks “Is it true?”  (That would stop a lot of speculation and gossip right there). 

The second gatekeeper asks “Is it kind?

For those who qualify for the first two, there is a final question.  The third gatekeeper asks “Is it necessary?”