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A Quote about a Quote for the Quote of the Day
“A man finds joy in giving an apt reply – and how good is a timely word.” — Proverbs 15:23
L’esprit de l’escalier, or “the staircase mind,” is the French phrase for when the witty reply that you could have used at the bottom of the staircase doesn’t come to you until you reach the top. In one of many wonderful moments in Seinfeld (season 8, episode 13), George Costanza was at a business meeting catered with shrimp cocktails. A co-worker notices George stuffing his face and says, “Hey George, the ocean called and running out of shrimp!” George has no reply (and even if he had a reply, he has a very full mouth). After the meeting, George realizes he has the “perfect” comeback: “The jerk store called and they’re running out of you!” George goes to great lengths to recreate the circumstances, to get in a meeting with the same men, with shrimp, and can deliver his killer line. The man quickly responds, “What’s the difference? You’re their all-time best seller!”
I didn’t get Seinfeld when I first watched it. I thought, like most sitcoms, we were supposed to be rooting for the characters. But I saw they were awful people, so how could I root for them? Eventually, I saw that the showrunners and writers knew these were awful people as well, the worst of ourselves. Like George, it is a very rare thing when we have the right thing to say at the right time. It probably is just as well we don’t when it comes to insults. So much damage can be done with our tongues.
But to have the right encouraging word at the right time is a grand thing. We need to put more effort into that. And, I believe, God’s Spirit will help us find such words.
Published in General
Eustace,
Based on this and previous works we on the Committee have added you to the list of 20 Ricochetti who in the event of a full scale Russian missile attack will be whisked away to a secret facility deep beneath an idyllic West Virginia resort, to be released after the catastrophe to rebuild Western Civilization.
Great term – “Staircase mind.” I’ll have to remember it.
Indeed, it very much is. Another old saying about checking the tongue is, “Before you speak: Is it necessary? Is it true? Is it kind?”
If you would like to participate in the Quote of the Day series, our sign-up sheet for November awaits. There are several more days open this month.
If, on the other hand, you want to share with Ricochet the thanks you have to give, you might consider Group Writing, for which the theme this month is: Cornucopia of Thanks.
My wife asked if she could come along. She said she was willing to hide in a trunk.
The only caveat I would make to this statement, @arahant, is that kindness is in the eyes of the beholder. And kindness may not be called for. My former Zen teachers would refer to the “cutting sword of compassion.”
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. – Prov. 25:11
-A word spoken in due season, how good it is! – Prov. 15:23