Right Speech
Timely, true, gentle, beneficial, and loving speech, in the early Buddhist discourses.
Five qualities of well-spoken words · AN 5.198
It is speech that is timely, true, gentle, beneficial, and loving.
Read the complete sutta · Bhikkhu Sujato
Four kinds of speech to refrain from · SN 45.8
Refraining from speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical.
SN 45.8 · Analysis of the Path · Bhikkhu Sujato
Truth, benefit and the right time · MN 58
The Realized One knows the right time to speak so as to explain what he knows to be true, correct, and beneficial, but which is disliked by others.
MN 58 · With Prince Abhaya · Bhikkhu Sujato
When others speak harshly · MN 21
Our minds will not degenerate. We will blurt out no bad words. We will remain full of sympathy, with a heart of love and no secret hate.
MN 21 · The Simile of the Saw · Bhikkhu Sujato
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Sources & translations
The passages above are excerpts from Bhikkhu Sujato’s translations on SuttaCentral, released under CC0 1.0. The headings are editorial. This page presents early Buddhist sources.