Let thy words be few.
(Ecclesiastes 5:2)

     On March 4, 1841, president-elect William Harrison (1773-1841) attended his inauguration on a wet and chilly day. After being sworn in as the nation's 9th president, Harrison gave a colossal 8,445 word speech that lasted for almost two hours. It was the longest inaugural speech ever given. The entire time Harrison stood giving his speech, he was under-dressed and unprotected from the bad weather. After he had finished, he climbed back onto his horse and rode away. Soon afterwards he caught a bad cold that turned into pneumonia. Nearly a month later, on his 32nd day in office, President Harrison made history by being the first U.S. President to die in office. Had his words been fewer, he would not have been exposed to the bad weather for so long and possibly would not have gotten sick and died.
     Proverbs 17:28 says, “even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.” Let us therefore follow Solomon's advice and “let our words be few.”