Caution and Care
The wise person is careful and deliberate in action.
Wisdom manifests in careful, deliberate action rather than impulsive response. The wise person thinks before speaking, considers before acting, and proceeds with appropriate caution.
The exemplary person is slow to speak but quick to act.
Wisdom requires thoughtful deliberation.
Analects
Written about in
- What Confucianism says about what to say and what to leave unsaid
Slow to speak, quick to act, sets the ratio between the two. The thinking is meant to happen before the sentence, which means most of the work of good speech is never audible to anyone.