Silence not always golden?

Vagai arindhu vallavai vaaisoraar sollin thogaiyarindha thooimaiyavar - Thirukkural

He who knows his words and subject should not let fear muzzle him in front of the powerful - Loose Translation

You know the problem with Tiru? He writes what seems like haiku but the blessed man does not allow you any leeway to conveniently interpret his words. I mean, like, if you had 'The bird soars high in the sky;  petals floating unseen' or some such cryptic haiku, you could suit yourself in assuming the meaning. You could say, "Ah! The chap says you should rise high to be noticed; going with the current is futile" if you are the sort who is always rushing about changing the world. You could say, "The chap is saying that each one must be true to his nature, soar high or float with the current." OR you could claim, "What a wise man! He is saying that the world gets taken in by flamboyance and does not appreciate the serene." THAT sort of flexibility our Tiru does not permit.

Now, see this one. If you know your words and your subject, Tiru does not allow you to remain silent because you are afraid of the consequences of voicing them in the presence of a powerful and hostile audience. (Why am I adding in 'hostile' there? Really? Ever heard of anyone being afraid of preaching to the choir?) True, he has earlier said that you should choose your words to suit your audience but that is only related to the way you DRESS up the truth; it does not allow you to morph or hide the truth.

The blessed chap does not allow you to even remain silent, for God's sake! No, you HAVE to voice the truth or, possibly, be taken for someone who does NOT know his words and subject. By his standards, to get to be known as a wise man is a very arduous and hazardous undertaking.

You can sort of see his point, though. I mean, like, if Galileo had kept to himself his idea that the entire Universe did not actually revolve around the Earth, would he be known as a scientist? If Einstein had hugged to himself the thought that only he knew relativity, for fear of opposition by the scientific community of his day, wouldn't he be absolutely obscure?

The chap who waits till all opposition has melted away before speaking of his ideas is more likely to be a figure of fun. I mean, come on, do you really say, "Wow!" and look admiringly at a man who says, "I discovered the theory of relativity two years before Einstein"? Or do you tell him, "And it was you who banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, I'm sure"?

The fact of the matter is that, these days, it is the man who says it first who is credited with the wisdom. Even if the other guy discovered it first. There is some story about the credit for Calculus to that effect.

When it comes to knowing things, but not actually being the inventor or discoverer of the knowledge, things may get murkier about opening your mouth on it...but that is for later.

So, yeah, when it comes to new discoveries and inventions, it is more important to talk about it, to spread the information of your having done it far and wide, than to actually discover or invent it.

He who talks is considered more wise than he who actually does it, after all!