The All-Revealing Speech

(WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SHAKESPEAREAN FOOL)

Next time someone calls you a fool, don’t take it as an insult. Just remember the Shakespearean fool. He was a master of words. Some of his sayings were worth in gold. Whether it was Feste from ‘Twelfth Night’ mouthing:

Those wits that think they have thee, do very oft prove fools
(meaning: those who take themselves to be quite intelligent are often proved to be fools)

or the Fool of ‘King Lear’ profoundly remarking:

Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest
Ride more than thou goest.
(‘owest’ means ‘own’)

they were all philosophical quite a few times. The Fools in Shakespearean plays are known to be the wisest of all characters. They have earned this place for themselves due to sheer jugglery of words.
The comment of a famous man: “Speak so that I can see you”, is simply priceless. Speech is an indispensable part of our life; so much so that we speak many times more than we write. Some languages of the world don’t even have a written form. The importance of speech is also illustrated by the fact that a child learns to speak first and writing later. Therefore, speech is primary and writing is secondary. Erudite speech can take a person places. The speech delivered by Winston Churchill to his army worked wonders for his country. The speech instilled confidence among the thin numbers of he army, to fight and later emerge as winner in the Second World War.
There are all types of persons we come across in our daily life. Some are the intelligentsia who don’t have the mastery over speech, hence do not come across as very knowledgeable. Then there are the not so intelligent but talented ones, who know the art of conversation. The result is that the latter substantiate themselves to be more well-informed. Sometimes even an utterly foolish person may show a streak of intelligence. That is to say, that many a times a weighty statement comes from the most unexpected quarters. I myself happen to be a witness to one such occurrence. This happened when I was standing at one of the busy intersections. A man in front of me was sitting in his posh luxury car. A crippled man begged for alms from that man, who after ignoring the beggar for a few moments simply gave vent to torrential downpour of bad names, asking him to leave. The beggar stepped back. When the car left, the beggar instead of cursing him, as anyone of his counterpart might do, prayed to God to give the man some patience and happy living sans his pride of wealth. He also thanked heavens that he was not in that man’s place. Now this is what is least expected from a beggar! It was nothing but his sophisticated and mature manner of talking that made him stand apart from the rest of the crowd.
The art of conversion includes not only using the appropriate word but also using them at the appropriate time and occasions. There is a disparity between the language we speak in front of our friends and family and the one we use for official purposes. Here is an anecdote to clarify the distinction between the usage of language:

Ø Albert says to his wife about Abraham: “Met that fool Abraham today. Wants his job back, can you imagine?”
Ø Then he talks to his colleague: “Do you remember Abraham Greene? I met him today. He said he’d like his job back. I think he is too optimistic, do you?”
Ø Finally he goes to his boss and says: “I met Mr. Abraham yesterday, Sir, who used to work in our stores. He asked me to find out if he could again join his post. I only said I’ll pass on your request and find out the position. Should he have any hopes sir?”

These three different statements especially the proper selection of words, throw an immense light on the character of man. They serve as the final stamp on his intellect. There is a dire need of good speakers in this modern world. Pen certainly is mightier than sword but speech too is equally, if not more, effective than the former. Speech may make or mar one’s personality. The next time you open your mouth be careful you might give yourself away. Remember, be the Shakespearean fool, not foolish but always witty.