A king sent a message to the ruler of a neighboring country. The message read:
"Send me a blue diamond as large as a pigeon's egg or else..."
The king on getting the message wrote back: "We don't have such a diamond and if we had..."
The first king got very angry and declared war on his neighbor. The fighting went on for several months till a third king arranged a meeting between the two warring rulers. So they met and the first king said to the other: "What did you mean when you said, 'Send me a blue diamond as large as a pigeon's egg or else...'?"
"Why," he replied, "I meant a blue diamond as large as a pigeon's egg or else... some other diamond. I love diamonds. But what did you mean when you said, 'We don't have such a diamond and if we had-'?"
"It is easy to guess my meaning," said the other man. "What I wanted to say was, if we had such a diamond we would have gladly sent it to you." The Kings pledged to write more clearly in future communications and embraced each other and made peace.
Many a time, our understanding of what is left unsaid, including even the most obvious, is what causes problems. We would avoid a lot of trouble for ourselves and others if we are clear in what we say or write.
Indian Thoughts Archives
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