GOSSIPING

One day someone ran up to the wise man Socrates and whispered, "Socrates, listen to this bit of gossip about your friend."

"Wait!" quickly answered Socrates. "Have you first passed it through the three sieves?" 

"What three sieves?"

"Yes,, my friend, three sieves. Now let's see whether what you want to tell me passed through them. The first is truth. Are you sure that what you are going to say is the truth?"

"Well," stuttered the man, "actually I heard the story secondhand."

"Hmmm,"answered the wise man. "Well, let's go on and see whether it can pass through the second sieve. Is what you are going to say, kind?"

"Not exactly," said the informer. "In fact it's the opposite."

"So that takes care of that. Now tell me:is it necessary?"

"Hardly."

"Well, if what you want to tell me is neither true nor kind nor necessary, skip it."

From Tonic for the Heart Vol 2

Dear friends, how do we act in our day to day life? Are we like Socrates or like the other person who is eager to gossip about others? This story gives us a good lesson, do we need to gossip or is it necessary to listen to others gossiping about their friends? 

I am sure all of us do enjoy and take part in gossiping about the third person but let's try to imitate Socrates and his theory of three sieves. Is the gossip true, kind and necessary? Let's try to remind ourselves next time someone who comes to gossip and when we gossip the three sieves of Socrates. Let's stop gossiping.