Mahabharata 14: Never React To Words Apt Or Inapt Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

O scion of Bharata,
To words apt nor yet inapt
Of the vile and inept,
The noble never react.
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Here is the transliteration of the original verse:

na cha eva uktā na cha an-uktāhīnatah puruśhā girah |
bhārata (na)prati-jalpantisadā tu uttama pūruśhāh || sabhā 72-8 ||

This is Arjun's advice to his elder brother Bheemsen. It is best to refrain from reacting to words uttered by the lowly, whether apt or inapt. This is a golden rule valid even in today's times. Note: uktā = appropriate, apt; hīnatah puruśhā= by lowly men; girah = words, speech; prati-jalpanti = react, counter prattle/chatter; uttama pūruśhāh = noble men.

As Calvin Coolidge once said to the effect:
Nothing that I've not said
Has any harm to me made.

If the words of Soren Kierkegaard can be put in verse:

What ails the world is lack of peace,
In what seems a deadly disease,
Nothing can it restore some sense—
Save perhaps power of silence.