TO BE SILENT
and
TO KNOW WHAT TO SAY AND WHEN
Even how you say what you want to say is extremely important.
The thing is people filter the words they hear through the prism of their own experiences, and the knowledge they have acquired through their own reading --- through their perceptions. So you never know how your words are being interpreted. Their reaction, it follows, is naturally according to what their minds have processed.
It is not possible for us to always give a measured response and we often trip up here ending up igniting a fire where there need not be one in the first place.
Gandhi gave a very clear directive: Speak only if you can improve upon the silence.
The Buddha said: Sometimes it is better to be kind than to be right.
It is always better to take a step back and be silent. Words can cause damage equal in proportion to a holocaust. Silence allows for that little space or leeway to re-phrase....or eliminate the words entirely....thus keeping the peace and more importantly to be at peace...