"Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about"
About this Quote
Pandita’s warning lands with the cool logic of someone who knew that power doesn’t just punish actions; it polices mouths. “Much talking is the cause of danger” isn’t a prudish swipe at chatter. It’s a survival manual from a leader operating in a world where words could be treated as weapons, confessions, or insults on demand. Speech creates a record. It reveals loyalties. It invites misinterpretation. In courtly and religious politics alike, saying the wrong thing isn’t merely awkward - it’s combustible.
The parrot metaphor does double duty. A parrot talks, but it doesn’t control what it says; it repeats. That’s a pointed critique of performative speech: the kind that mimics prevailing slogans, flatters authority, or fills the air to look important. The punishment is a cage, not because the parrot is evil, but because it’s legible. The talkative creature becomes easy to locate, label, and contain.
The “other birds” are a quieter kind of intelligence. They “fly freely” because they’re harder to pin down; they offer less evidence, fewer hooks for accusation, fewer openings for rivals to exploit. Pandita is also hinting at a leader’s discipline: restraint as strategy, not timidity. Silence here is not emptiness but control - the ability to choose when speech is necessary and when it’s self-sabotage. In a culture of surveillance before CCTV, discretion was the real mobility.
The parrot metaphor does double duty. A parrot talks, but it doesn’t control what it says; it repeats. That’s a pointed critique of performative speech: the kind that mimics prevailing slogans, flatters authority, or fills the air to look important. The punishment is a cage, not because the parrot is evil, but because it’s legible. The talkative creature becomes easy to locate, label, and contain.
The “other birds” are a quieter kind of intelligence. They “fly freely” because they’re harder to pin down; they offer less evidence, fewer hooks for accusation, fewer openings for rivals to exploit. Pandita is also hinting at a leader’s discipline: restraint as strategy, not timidity. Silence here is not emptiness but control - the ability to choose when speech is necessary and when it’s self-sabotage. In a culture of surveillance before CCTV, discretion was the real mobility.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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