Had I but known that nothing is undone
From rising until setting of the sun,
That full fledged words fly off beyond our reach,
That not a deed brought forth to life dies ever,
I would have measured out and weighed my speech,
To bear good deeds had been my sole endeavour.
The town clerk was wise when he urged the people of Ephesus to do nothing rashly. He told them they might do injustice to the men concerning whom the disturbance had arisen. He said there was a right way to proceed; if the men had done anything wrong, the courts were open, and it would be easy to have them tried and convicted. Rashness, he assured them, might bring upon themselves serious trouble.
This was good advice that day, and it is good for us all. Most of us are inclined, at times at least, to act rashly. We are readily carried off by excitement or by feeling, and we do things then which cost us no end of trouble before we are through with them.
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