One day an acquaintance came to meet Chanakya and said to him excitedly. "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"Just wait a while," Chanakya replied. "Before you tell me anything I would like you to go through a little test."
"What's that?" asked the acquaintance.
"I will tell you," Chanakya said. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you are going to say. That is why I call it the Triple filter test.
"The first filter is Truth. Are you sure that what you are about to tell me is true?" "No," the man said. "Actually, I just heard about it." "All right," said Chanakya. ""So you don't really know if it is true or not.
"Now lets us try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" "No, on the contrary.."
"So," Chanakya continued, "you wanted to tell me something bad about him but you are not certain it is true."
"You may still pass the test because there is one filter left; the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really..."
"Well," continued Chanakya, "if you want to tell me what may not be true and is neither good nor useful, why tell it to me at all?"
Before speaking about others, pause and filter your words through truth, goodness, and usefulness. If they fail all three, silence is the wiser choice.
🪞 Reflection
Imagine if every conversation we had passed through these filters — how much lighter would our minds, and our relationships, become?
ℹ️ Disclaimer
This story is part of a collection of anonymous parables and inspirational tales gathered over time. The original author is unknown. If this story belongs to you, we’d love to give credit—please reach out.
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