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← Aṅguttara Nikāya

Speaker

AN 4.140 · Vādīsutta

A winding path through flowering trees above a misty green valley.

“Mendicants, there are these four speakers. What four?

  1. There’s a speaker who runs out of meaningful things to say, but not of ways of phrasing things.
  2. There’s a speaker who runs out of ways of phrasing things, but not of meaningful things to say.
  3. There’s a speaker who runs out of both meaningful things to say, and ways of phrasing things.
  4. There’s a speaker who never runs out of meaningful things to say, or ways of phrasing things.

These are the four speakers. It is impossible, it cannot happen that someone accomplished in the four kinds of textual analysis will ever run out of meaningful things to say, or ways of phrasing things.”

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Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.