Welcome back to Wisdom from the Golestan of Saadi.
Today’s story is about a merchant, who suffered a loss.

Saadi writes:

A merchant once suffered a great loss, a thousand dinars gone.
He said to his son,
“Tell no one of this misfortune.”

The son replied,
“Father, I’ll obey. But tell me, what is the wisdom in keeping it secret?”

The merchant smiled and said,
“So that the suffering does not double,
once from the loss itself,
and again from the laughter of those who rejoice in our pain.”

Saadi concludes:

Never tell your sorrow to your enemies,
they will say ‘God help you!’
and smile behind their words.

The lesson:
Silence can sometimes guard our dignity better than speech.
And not every ear deserves to hear our grief.