Wise Speech

"[B]e silent for the most part, or else make only the most necessary remarks, and express these in few words. But rarely, and when occasion requires you to talk, talk, indeed . . . In your conversation avoid making mention at great length and excessively of your own deeds or dangers, because it is not as pleasant for others to hear about your adventures, as it is for you to call to mind your own dangers." (Epictetus, Enchiridion, 33.2,14)

Great advice.

1. Story-telling hijacks a conversation;
2. Too many words exhaust the listener;
3. A rambler is boring, annoying;
4. Story-telling is selfish, self-gratifying;
5. The more one talks, opportunity for exaggeration increases;
6. What may have started as "sharing"in conversation becomes a performance.