Testing For Gossip

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
“Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."
“Triple Filter Test?"
“That's right," Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Are you absolutely sure that what you're about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said. "Actually I just heard about it and …"
"Alright," said Socrates. "So you don’t really know if it's true or not. Now let us try the second filter; the filter of Goodness. Is what you're about to tell me about my friend something good?"
“No; on the contrary."
“So," Socrates continued, "You want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, 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," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

GOSSIP DIES WHEN IT HITS A WISE PERSON'S EARS !