Once upon a time, a disciple had heard a tale of a monk,
who happened to be a friend of his teacher. So, the disciple
came to the teacher and said, “I have heard something
interesting about the monk.”

The teacher asked, “Have you made sure that what you
are going to tell about the monk, is true?”

The disciple answered, “No, I heard it at the
marketplace.”

The teacher said, “So you think what you are going to
tell about the monk, may be untrue. Well, is it something
good about the monk that you intend to tell me?”

The disciple answered, “No, it is on the contrary.”

The teacher said, “So you think what you are going to
tell about the monk, may be untrue and bad. Well, is it
something useful for me to know?”

The disciple replied, “No, it may be gossip and not really
useful.”

The teacher said, “So you think what you are going to
tell about the monk, may be untrue, bad and useless. Then
why tell at all?”

~0~
Excerpt from the book “Once Upon A Time: 100 Management Stories” by Rajen Jani