The Tongue is a Fire

James, brother of Jesus: "The tongue is a fire...a restless evil...which defiles our entire body and sets on fire the course of our lives...[H]ow great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire...With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way." (from James 3:5-10)

Hafiz, 14th-century sufi poet: "What we speak becomes the house we live in. Think what can happen when the tongue says to kindness, 'I will be your slave.'" *** "Now is the time to understand that all your ideas of right and wrong were just training wheels to be laid aside when you finally live with veracity and love." (from The Gift (1999))