Elder Paul H. Dunn, Part Three: Nursery Rhyme Wisdom from the Bishop

 For Part One, Part Two, or Part Four, or even Part Five, Part Six, or Part Seven, click on the appropriate link.

Elder Paul H. Dunn's bishop wasn't done with him yet. In his talk, "What is a Teacher?", that bishop came after him many days, determined to get him to think something. Another quote he learned from this bishop came out thus:

 

The Quote

‘There was a wise old owl 

who sat in an oak, 

and the longer he sat 

the less he spoke. 

The less he spoke, 

the more he heard. 

Oh, Paul, why can’t you be like that wise old bird?’” 

 

Why indeed? 

This is a nursery rhyme that was popular in the 1800s, and is sometimes attributed to John D. Rockefeller, though at this point I'm doubtful he originated the rhyme.

 

This is the Mother Goose I remember...

 

Children's rhymes are an interesting branch of literature - they're so old that a lot of the original meanings behind them get lost in language that's gone out of style, or places that are so far removed from our current experience that we can't relate. 

But there's a lot of teaching in them, combined with rhyming, that helps us remember better. Most of us can probably come up with a nursery rhyme or two from childhood. That rhyming scheme makes them stick really well in the mind.

This quote is in fact real though, and it can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, first compiled in 1951, but the poems within are much older than that.

 

Is it, in fact, really smarter not to speak though? 

Sometimes, not speaking means not engaging with what's being said, or being afraid to speak. These are not wisdom, but they're the same action.

The wisdom, I think, comes through listening. Finding those who are wiser than we are, and listening, is a good way of learning. 

Something I'm still learning, especially in regards to advice, is to stop giving so much. People will tell me things, but I only give advice if it's sought now. At least, I try. Sometimes the temptation to share all that I've learned and try and tell people things gets to be too much, and then I dump. Hence this blog, I guess, right? We like to tell everyone everything we know.

But God doesn't do that. He listens while I run my mouth off, and it's only when I stop and listen to Him that I learn.