"I think," said Helen, "that a great deal of evil is done to children in this way, by our not thinking of what we are saying."
"It seems to me," said Miss B., "that this view of the subject will reduce us to silence almost as much as the other. How is one ever to estimate the consequences of their words, people are affected in so many different ways by the same thing?"
"I suppose," said her uncle, "we are only responsible for such results as by carefulness and reflection we might have foreseen. It is not for ill-judged words, but for idle words, that we are to be judged—words uttered without any consideration at all, and producing bad results. If a person really anxious to do right misjudges as to the probable effect of what he is about to say on others, it is quite another thing."
"But, uncle, will not such carefulness destroy all freedom in conversation?" said Helen.
"If you are talking with a beloved friend, Helen, do you not use an instinctive care to avoid all that might pain that friend?"
"Certainly."
"And do you find this effort a restraint on your enjoyment?"
"Certainly not."
"And you, from your own feelings, avoid what is indelicate and impure in conversation, and yet feel it no restraint?"
"Certainly."