Indeed, expression springs from the heart, and only
was the tongue appointed as the heart’s interpreter.

The point is that a person cannot know what lies in his companion’s breast (1) except through the words that indicate it. If, however, the hearer takes the speaker’s words in a sense other than that for which they were coined and other than what they ordinarily convey in conversation (2), he nullifies the very purpose of language: the speaker’s intention is lost and no benefit (3) reaches the addressee. This is uglier than leaving the tongue inactive (4), for in mere silence the benefit of clarification is simply forfeited, whereas when speech is taken to mean the opposite of what was intended it both forfeits that benefit and brings about the contrary of the intended meaning. For this reason some wise men have said, “A lying tongue is worse than a mute tongue,” (5) because the mute tongue has merely lost its usefulness and causes no harm, while the lying tongue has lost its usefulness and, on top of that, adds the evil of falsehood. (6)

Thus, the one who speaks with words whose outward sense, true import, and conventional usage