'Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.' ~Benjamin Franklin

Haven't we all put our foot in it. We have simply said the wrong thing at the wrong time and the moment we said it we know we shouldn't have. Gordon Brown knew all about it during the recent British General election. For the most part we recover and learn from the moment. When what we say is juicy gossip the results are even more destructive. There is a story told about a teacher who gave a student a bag of feathers and asked her to drop some of the feathers along the footpath on the way home. Next day the teacher put her to the same task. "This time on your way home I want you to collect my bag of feathers picking each feather on your way back," she said. Next day the teacher asked for her bag of feathers. The student replied: "I only picked up one or two. The wind blew away all the rest." The teacher replied: "The same goes with juicy bits of gossip. Once out and blown around you quickly loose control of where they go."