Of course, the chatter of children is delightful when it is available in reasonable doses. The ability to talk freely is an exciting experience for children as the sound of strange words fascinates them. That’s how their vocabulary grows with practice. In school, the teachers, however, restrict their chatter to a great extent. Were they not to do so, the children would never learn their lessons.

Now children, remember this wise old bird.

Most chatter-boxes hardly realise that the more they chatter, the less they can learn from the sights and sounds around them. Of course, the less they learn, the less worthwhile a contribution they are able to make to an intelligent conversation.

But once in a while, in a company where too many words seem to be flowing around, you may notice a person sitting quietly in a corner. He merely sits and listens to the ongoing conversation without opening his mouth. Those engaged in conversation usually ignore his presence. In a way, this silent person might as well not exist.

However, during a lull in the conversation, the "silent one" looks up and, often makes a pithy comment relevant to the subject under discussion.

The result is almost shattering. How did it happen? The silent listener has all along been all-attention to the flow of salient points made by the participants. Thus, his own observation comes out of this. And, his single utterance says a lot. In all probability, what he says is, remembered when the rest of the talk has long been forgotten. His contribution can be called what Wordsworth referred to as "choice word and measured phrase, above the rest of ordinary men."

Indeed!