On Talkativeness

“It is a troublesome and difficult task that philosophy has in hand when it undertakes to cure garrulousness. For the remedy, words of reason, requires listeners; but the garrulous listen to nobody, for they are always talking.”

Plutarch’s essay takes on an unusual philosophical problem: people who talk too much. In part an erudite and highly amusing history of the chatterbox as a social phenomenon, On Talkativeness also finds its way to the heart of much more serious issues—among them the n...